The consortium of PT Bakrie Capital Indonesia (BCI), PT Ithaca Resources, and an American international corporation, Air Products has formed a strategic alliance to build a methanol industry worth more than US$2 billion in Batuta Industrial Chemical Park, in Bengalon, East Kutai Regency in East Kalimantan.

Based on the long-term contract, the company under the Bakrie Group and Ithaca Resources will supply coal raw materials and have committed to take over the production of methanol to be marketed in Indonesia. Coal supplied from the mines owned by PT Bumi Resources Tbk (BUMI) and Ithaca Resources are then processed by Air Products’ production facilities to be produced into methanol. This facility will be able to produce nearly 2 million tons of methanol per year produced from nearly six million tons of coal per year. This project is expected to be streamlined by 2024.