Indonesia invests 5 trillion rupiah in first soda ash plant

Indonesia has officially launched the construction of the first soda ash plant in the industrial area of Bontang City, East Kalimantan Province. The project, with an investment of 5 trillion rupiah, covers an area of 16 hectares and is expected to create 800 jobs, and is scheduled to be completed and put into operation in March 2028, said the president of the Indonesian Fertilizer Company. The president of Indonesia Fertilizer Company said that the project ends Indonesia's 30-year history of failing to produce soda ash on its own. Currently, Indonesia needs to import 1 million tons of soda ash per year, and the demand is growing at a rate of 5-6% per year.

The new plant will produce 300,000 tons of soda ash per year, which can replace the import demand of 30%, and 300,000 tons of ammonium chloride per year, which is expected to reduce the import expenditure of fertilizer raw materials by 2.5 trillion dongs per year. Soda ash (sodium carbonate) is a key raw material for the glass, detergent, and paper industries, and its by-product, ammonium chloride, is an important fertilizer needed for palm plantations.

The project was constructed by PT TCC Indonesia and PT Rekayasa Industri, with funding from the companies' own funds and domestic bank support. Executives from Danata Asset Management Indonesia pointed out that soda ash is also an important raw material for lithium carbonate, a material used in electric vehicle batteries, and that the plant will contribute to the country's strategy of downstreaming the chemical industry, which is expected to lead to exports and boost economic growth in Bontang in the future.