Press Release

PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) and USA-based company, Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. held a meeting with the Ministry of SOEs of the Republic of Indonesia related to the coal downstream project on Wednesday night (29/1). In that meeting, SOE Minister, PTBA Managing Director, and Air Products CEO were present.

SOE Minister Erick Thohir stated his excitement in welcoming the preparation and commitment of Bukit Asam and Air Products in carrying out coal downstream project. "We welcome the investment in the coal downstream industry; when the coal has added value by converting it into DME, it will eventually help reducing Indonesia's dependence on LPG imports,” said Erick Thohir.

The coal downstream is expected to reduce Indonesia's gas imports by around US$ 1 billion per year. The total investment for this gasification development is US$ 3.2 billion, and Air Products acts as the investor of the Upstream and Downstream businesses.

President Director of PT Bukit Asam Tbk, Arviyan Arifin, stated that through coal downstream, low-calorie coal will be converted into high-value products using gasification technology. This technology will convert young coal into syngas to be processed into Dimethyl Ether (DME), Methanol and Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG).

The coal downstream project is planned to produce 1.4 million tons of DME, 300 thousand tons of Methanol and 250 thousand tons of MEG. Currently the feasibility study has been completed and entered the FEED and EPC stages. The plant is expected to be operational by the end of 2023.

"This downstream project is in accordance with our corporate tagline ‘Beyond Coal’, and is shown by Bukit Asam transformation in giving added value to coal by processing coal it into end products such as DME, Methanol and MEG," said Arviyan Arifin.

On this occasion, Air Products also stated its willingness in developing the coal downstream industry, by giving its commitment in funding support of the investment required.