SEMEN TONASA SECURES RP3 TRILLION SYNDICATED LOAN

Jakarta, June 22 (ANTARA) - Cement maker PT Semen Tonasa has secured a syndicated loan of Rp3.547 trillion from local banks to construct a new factory and power plant.

The local banks were Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Bank Jatim and Bank Sulawesi Selatan with Bank Mandiri as the leader of the loan syndication, Bank Mandiri President Director Agus Martowardoyo said following the signing of a loan agreement with the cement company here on Monday.

The loan payable in 10 years carried an annual interest of 12 percent, he said.

PT Semen Tonasa President Director Satar Taba meanwhile said the loan would be used to finance the construction of unit V of the company's cement factories with a production capacity of 2.5 million tons per year and a power plant with a capacity of 2x35 megawatts.

The two projects would be located at Pangkep Tonasa in South Sulawesi province.

Taba said the two projects would cost Rp5.25 trillion of which Rp3.55 trillion would come from the syndicated loan from the four banks and the rest from the company's equities.

He said the loan agreement was a follow-up to the underwriting agreement signed by Bank Mandiri, Semen Tonasa and Semen Gresik as the parent company of Semen Tonasa on May 28, 2009.

Semen Gresik President Director Dwi Sucipto said domestic cement output still fell short of consumption and therefore, new cement factories were needed to meet the demand for the commodity. ***2***
T.SDP-5
(S012/A/HAJM/19:50/B/O001
(T.SYS/B/S012/B/O001) 22-06-2009 19:49:16