Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia IV (Pelindo IV) plans to issue bonds, amounting to Rp5 trillion, to finance the acceleration of Makassar New Port project development.

"The bond issuance plan is a follow-up to the visit of Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Rini Soemarno to the location of Makassar New Port (MNP) on Monday (Jan 15, 2018)," Pelindo IV President Director, Doso Agung, stated in a written statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday.

During her visit, Soemarno appreciated the progress of MNP development, which has now reached 58 percent, and called for the acceleration in its development.

"MNP is one of the national strategic projects of Jokowi`s flagship government in eastern Indonesia, in accordance with the schedule," she noted.

Nevertheless, Agung remarked that the minister of SOE, after reviewing the performance of Pelindo IV in 2017, has sought to accelerate the overall settlement of MNP.

Pelindo IV recorded growth in trading volume in 2017, through containers of 1.9 million TEU`s, or an increase of 4.2 percent, compared to last year and Makassar Container Terminal, which began to overwhelm in handling the volume of existing containers,

During 2017, Pelindo IV recorded positive growth. "The profit of Pelindo IV in 2017 is predicted to increase approximately Rp600 billion or 1.4 times compared to the previous period," Agung revealed.

Pelindo IV has even planned the construction of a one-kilometer pier at once, from which it was originally built in stages. "For that, we are preparing Rp5 trillion fund, through the issuance of bonds in 2018," he explained.

In addition to Makassar New Port, Pelindo IV is also known to increase the capacity of Bitung Container Terminal, as an international hub port, and Kendari New Port.

The development undertaken by Pelindo IV also aims to support Direct Call and Direct Export in Eastern Indonesia Region.

In addition, the corporate condition strongly supports the acceleration effort, among them EBITDA (Earning Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) of Rp1 trillion, and the leverage is still very loose.

"Makassar New Port is planning to use modern container-loading tools that can serve Panamax post-size ships, and in the end, Pelindo IV wants to increase its value to service users and lower logistics costs at ports," he pointed out.

(A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE/H-YH

Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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