Baturaja II plant will start commercial operations this month

The Semen Baturaja II plant of Baturaja Cement Corp will start commercial operations this September after undergoing two months of trials. According to Baturaja Cement's General Director, Rahmad Pribadi, the schedule for operations was moved ahead by a month, from 1 October. The Indonesian plant will increase the overall production capacity at the site by 1.85Mta.

The Baturaja II works will also raise its production capacity by 92.5 per cent, or 3.85Mt, in 2018 from 2Mt this year. The new unit will be built in Baturaja, South Sumatra, with an investment value of IDR3.4trn (US$0.25bn).

Meanwhile, Baturaja Cement Corp has set up a forest engineering business scheme to increase production output and environmental sustainability. Mr Pribadi said Baturaja Cement is already cooperating with the Faculty of Forestry from the Gadjah Mada University to conduct research on the plan.

The plan will not only see the company plant more trees but also let the soil recover following the deposits of hazardous materials and making it more suitable for replanting. "The soil that contains traces of cement is poisonous. Before cement mining was conducted, it was difficult to grow plants due to the low water content. This is what we are working on now. We process the soil after we mine the cement, so it becomes healthy for the plants to grow," Mr Pribadi said.