InfoSAWIT, DUMAI -Sinar Mas Cepsa launched the first oleo-chemical factory in Indonesia. The investment reached about 300 millionEuro (equal to Rp 4,77billion). The factory was constructed for about two years and would produce fatty alcohol from sustainable kernel oil as the main material to produce daily needs, such as, houses, and personal product.

Sinar Mas Cepsa is a joint venture between Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food, the second biggest palm oil plantation company in the world that is vertically integrated, and Cepsa, the advanced and integrated energy company in Madrid, Spain. Cepsa is famously known as the world leader company to produce alkilbenzena linier (LAB) that is used to produce biodegradable detergent.

The launching of the first factory of Sinar Mas Cepsa in Indonesia in Dumai, Riau Province, was attended by Secretary of Industry, Indonesian Republic, Airlangga Hartanto; Governor of Riau, Arsyadjuliandi Rachman, Chairman and CEO of Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food, Franky O. Widjaja; and CEO of Cepsa, Pedro Miro.

"The joint venture is realized with the vision, that is, to be the fatty alcohol in vegetable - base  and derivative producer globally and within the sustainable stock. The vertical integration of Sinar Mas Cepsa and the launching of the factory in Dumai are the important efforts that we do to realize the vision. Through the joint venture, we would increase the additional value for palm oil derivative products and keep creating the employment in Indonesia,” Chairman and CEO Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food, Franky O Widjaja, said in the official statement that InfoSAWIT got.

Vice Chairman and CEO Cepsa, Pedro Miró said, chemical division in Cepsa is the main key of the strategy in the company. The company also has vast and kinds of portofolio, particularly in chemical industry, the business units that the company advanced. “Multiplying the chain of fatty alcohol in vegetable-base is the newest thing in our international plan. It is important for us to be in partnership with the experts that have good reputation and the trusted ones,” Miro said.

CEO Sinar Mas Cepsa, Kung Chee Whan, said, Cepsa wants to enlarge its petro-chemical portofolio within the product in vegetable – base. So making the cooperation and partnership with Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food, one palm oil producer company in the world is the right option. The partnership joining both sides could be seen through the factory of Sinar Mas Cepsa in Dumai. “The factory advantages the technology and the experts from Cepsa in oleo-chemical and relies on the sustainable material produced by Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food,” he said.

The factory in Dumai would have capacity up to 160.000 metric tons of fatty alcohol per year. The selling of fatty alcohol in vegetable base gets more as the material for personal care and liquid detergent. The main focus of the factory in Dumai is Asian markets.

The factory would directly hire 300 local workers and would support the chemical industrial development through the knowledge transfer and advanced technology implementation to produce fatty alcohol from sustainable vegetable stocks.

The factory in Dumai independently operates. It could produce electricity by itself, process the waste, and manage its logistic. Besides, the factory in Dumai has strategic location, next to the LubukGaung Refinery belonging to SinarMas Agribusiness and Food that supplies palm kernel for the factory. Lubuk Gaung itself has got RSPO certificate and the material could be traced. (T2)