Pertamina-Pupuk Kujang to Build the First Catalyst Plant in Indonesia

PT Pertamina, PT Pupuk Kujang, and PT Rekacipta Inovasi ITB signed an agreement to establish a joint venture company (JVC) for the first national catalyst plant in Indonesia on Wednesday (7/29). The establishment of this catalyst plant is a government effort to encourage clean energy development through improved processing technology. "Catalyst is an important part of accelerating the reaction to process the forming of the final product," the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif said after witnessing the signing of the agreement at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

The catalyst plant would later be called the Merah Putih (Red and White) Catalyst Plant under the management of PT Katalis Sinergi Indonesia. The construction of the plant, which has a capacity of 3 tons per day, will start running at the end of 2020 with an operational target in 2021. Arifin said the existence of a national catalyst plant would be the key to processing technology while strengthening the domestic processing industry so that the dependence on the catalyst import portion is decreasing. "It will create the sovereignty of national processing technology," he said.