Entrepreneurs Complain About Himbara Bank Reluctant To Finance Bauxite Smelters

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Bauxite and Ore Entrepreneurs Association (APB3I) reports that state-owned banks or Himbara banks are reluctant to finance domestic bauxite smelters.

Daily executor (Plh) of the General Chairperson of the APB3I Ronald Sulistyanto said many factors caused Himbara bank to be reluctant to place its funds in the construction of this purification industry.

"The problem is, if we sell something that is considered feasible by the bank, it is not considered feasible. From a government bank alone, we don't dare to participate in it, how about foreign banks," he said in the Mining Zone, Monday, July 15.

Ronald said that his party had invited several state-owned banks to place their funds, but they were constrained by the problem of breaking even points (BEP) which were considered too long.

"If it's long or not, it's a much more expert banking analysis. We are technical people, so we think that even if we offer a syndicate, outside, the question is very long," he explained.

One of the problems that entrepreneurs will face, he said, is the problem of power plants originating from green energy.

"This is a job that requires a lot of thinking to be spent, not to mention a very large investment," he explained.

To that end, he proposed, the establishment of a consortium to establish a bauxite smelter.

The reason is, the construction of the purification industry is still stagnant even though the government has implemented a ban on exports of bauxite commodities since June 2023.

According to Ronald, the consortium for the construction of smelters can increase equity because it brings three to four companies into one company.

With the construction of a smelter through a consortium, Ronald said, it could ease the company's financial burden.

Thus, there can be five smelters built with a capacity of 2 million tons per smelter each.

"The minimum of five. If the five averages of 2 million is an average of 10 million alumina outputs. How much is it needed? Every 2 jt is only three times. This means that you can get 50 million. This means that to give these miners the opportunity to come back to life by selling is determined by HPM and followed by factories. if not, they must be punished (punish)," concluded Ronald.