KUCHING: Sakura Ferroalloys Sdn Bhd is investing RM1.41bil to construct a sinter plant and may invest substantially more to produce value-added refined ferromanganese products at its smelting operation in Samalaju Industrial Park at Bintulu.
The sinter plant project is currently underway and is expected to be completed and commissioned in second half of 2024 (2H24), says chairman Tiaan Van Aswegen.
A sinter plant upgrades manganese ore fines via a sintering process with coke to produce sintered manganese ore lump.
This would further reduce the cost of the production of manganese alloys and improve furnace productivity.
By improving the efficiencies and effectiveness of the furnaces will also lower the cost base of Sakura Ferroalloys, said Van Aswegen at the company’s 10th anniversary celebrations, which was attended by Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg recently.
Sakura Ferroalloys is a tripartite joint venture of mining firm Assmang Ltd (South Africa), Japanese trading giant Sumitomo Corp and Taiwan’s China Steel Corp.
Sakura Ferroalloys produces some 240,000 tonnes of high carbon ferromanganese per annum for key markets in Asia, Europe, India and the United States. It commenced operations in May 2016.
The company is one of the three multinationals that own and operate manganese alloys smelting plants in Samalaju Industrial Park.
The others are Australia-based OM Holdings Ltd
(OMH) and Pertama Ferroalloys Sdn Bhd, whose shareholders are Asia Minerals Ltd, Nippon Denko Co Ltd, Carbon Capital Corp Sdn Bhd and Shinsho Corp.
Pertama Ferroalloys, which achieved full production of 22,000 tonnes per month (yearly output of 264,000 tonnes) of manganese alloys in 2018, announced expanding its smelting plant (second phase) with an estimated investment of US$600mil in late 2022.
On the other hand, via its wholly-owned subsidiary OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, OMH’s smelting plant has a design annual capacity to produce some 120,000 to 126,000 tonnes of ferrosilicon, 330,000 to 400,000 tonnes of manganese alloys and 21,000 to 24,500 tonnes of silicon metal (upon conversion of two ferrosilicon furnaces).
The company also owns and operates a sinter plant that has a design capacity to produce 250,000 tonnes of sinter per annum.
Van Aswegen said Sakura Ferroalloys is well positioned for diversification and growth,and is currently conducting a feasibility study to produce refined ferromanganese products.
The study is expected to be completed by middle of this year and if found to be feasibile, Sakura Ferroalloys might invest US$100mil to produce the value-added product, he added.
Sakura Ferroalloys is also studying the possibilities of turning the smelting plant’s wastes, such as slag, fumes and gas, into environmental-friendly by-products.
On this, Abang Johari said the Sarawak government is keen to explore strategic collaboration with Sakura Ferroalloys on the proposed project as slag is one of the components that can be used,for example, in road construction.
Saying that he was intrigued by the idea of producing bio-ethanol from bamboo, the Premier pledged to allocate land to Sakura Ferroalloys if the company is keen to undertake such a project in Bintulu.
Besides for the production of bio-ethanol, which could be used to produce sustainable aviation fuel, Abang Johari said bamboo furniture is another product.
Last year, Pertama Ferroalloys inked a memorandum of understanding with Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corp (STIDC) to invest in commercial plantations to produce green bamboo to manufacture charcoal.
Under STIDC’s bamboo industry development masterplan, Sarawak targets to plant at least 20,000ha of bamboo for industrial purposes to generate RM200mil in export earnings by 2030, apart from creating 5,000 jobs and household income of RM36mil per year by year 2030.
Bamboo is fast growing and matures in three to five years. It is a renewable source of raw materials and has a life cycle of 50 to 80 years.
The Pertama Ferroalloy-STIDC tie-up plans to collaborate with the community for bamboo contract farming and processing, and to produce bamboo-based handicraft products,besides providing technical training to the community involved.
