Inalum Updates Plans to Acquire Antam’s Bauxite Mine
16 Oct 2026, 02:00 PM
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PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) has commented on the progress of plans to acquire bauxite mining assets owned by state-owned PT Aneka Tambang (Persero) Tbk. (ANTM), or Antam, in West Kalimantan.Inalum Director of Corporate Strategy, Business Development and Commercial Arif Hendra said the company remained focused on developing the downstream bauxite sector, namely the aluminium industry.However, Arif did not rule out the possibility of the company entering the upstream industry in the long term. He stressed, though, that explaining the plan fell under the authority of PT Mineral Industri Indonesia (MIND ID).“I believe this has been arranged within MIND ID’s framework, in line with its policies, under which each party has its own responsibilities. For the long-term plans, it would be best to ask MIND ID what they entail. At Inalum, however, we are focused on ensuring the success of downstreaming,” Arif said after BIG Downstream Insight on Tuesday (October 6, 2026).Previously, a Bloomberg Technoz source familiar with the discussions said preliminary talks between the two MIND ID subsidiaries had begun.The planned acquisition of Antam’s bauxite mine is also being pursued as part of Inalum’s preparations for a listing on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).“We have plans to complete the value chain by extending it to mining, but the details have not been finalized,” Inalum Finance Director Ken Permana told Bloomberg Technoz on Friday (September 26, 2026).Ken said the company was still awaiting further direction from MIND ID regarding the planned bauxite mine acquisition. He added that Antam’s bauxite mine was the initial focus.“The MIND ID group’s priorities come first. The discussions are still informal,” he said.Meanwhile, Inalum President Director Melati Sarnita has set a target of completing the acquisition of Antam’s bauxite mine before 2030.Melati said Inalum was conducting due diligence with Antam in connection with the planned acquisition of the mine supplying raw materials for alumina production.She explained that the Antam mining assets under review were located near the alumina plant operated by PT Borneo Alumina Indonesia (BAI) in Mempawah, West Kalimantan.Borneo Alumina Indonesia is controlled by Inalum, which holds a 60 percent stake, while Antam owns the remaining 40 percent.“[The acquisition is targeted for completion] before 2030. We are currently in discussions with Antam and are conducting due diligence,” Melati said during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission VI at the parliament complex in Jakarta on Monday (September 29, 2026).Inalum has increasingly seen the need to secure bauxite mining assets to ensure supplies of raw materials for alumina production.This comes as investment in alumina refining plants, or smelters, in Indonesia has accelerated following the effective implementation of the bauxite export ban in June 2023. Most domestic alumina plants are currently controlled by Chinese companies.“Although our current capacity is only 275,000 tonnes per year, we can increase it to 1 million tonnes of aluminium per year by 2031,” Melati said.Meanwhile, state investment agency BPI Danantara broke ground on Inalum’s smelter project in Mempawah in February.According to Danantara’s estimates, the aluminium smelter project requires a total investment of USD 2.4 billion, or around IDR 40.21 trillion.Meanwhile, the second phase of the smelter-grade alumina refinery (SGAR) project in Mempawah requires an investment of USD 890 million, or around IDR 14.9 trillion.The integrated bauxite-alumina-aluminium processing and refining supply chain will have the capacity to process 3 million metric tonnes of bauxite into 1 million metric tonnes of alumina annually. The 1 million metric tonnes of alumina will then be processed into 600,000 metric tonnes of aluminium.Through these projects, domestic alumina production capacity is expected to increase to 2 million metric tonnes per year, absorbing 6 million metric tonnes of bauxite ore annually.
