Indonesia's Toba Pulp to invest $150 mln in capacity

Reuters, Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:32am EST

JAKARTA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Indonesian pulp producer, PT Toba Pulp Lestari (INRU.JK), plans to invest $150 million to increase the capacity of its factory in the next two years, corporate secretary Anwar Lawden said on Tuesday.

The firm aimed to increased the capacity of its factory in North Sumatra in the next two years to 300,000 tonnes from 165,000 tonnes by adding machinery, Lawden said by telephone.

"We are still reviewing our options but we plan to seek loans from financial institutions including banks."

Toba Pulp, which has a stock market value of $26.2 million, currently produces dissolving pulp -- the basic material for rayon fiber -- and bleached kraft pulp to make paper.

The firm aims to sell 50,000 tonnes of dissolving pulp and 162,000 tonnes of bleached kraft pulp in 2009, with most exported to China.

It will move to only producing dissolving pulp starting from January 2010, with a planned capacity of 200,000 tonnes in 2010. (Reporting by Tyagita Silka; Editing by Ed Davies)