Linde invests $120m in Indonesia’s largest ASU to supply PT Freeport copper smelter

Lindehas invested $120m in Indonesia’s largest air separation unit (ASU) insoutheast Asia to supply industrial gases to Indonesian mining company PTFreeport Indonesia.

Announcedtoday (29^th October), the plant installation will support thesupply of oxygen and nitrogen to PT Freeport Indonesia’s new copper smelter andrefining facility in Manyar, one of the largest copper processing sitesglobally.

Theplant will also supply liquefied industrial gases to both new and existing bulkcustomers in East Java.

MoloyBanerjee, President of ASEAN & South Asia at Linde, highlighted the keyrole that industrial gases play in copper smelting, noting the increased demandfor copper globally.

“Industrialgases help improve the efficiency of copper smelting by increasing productioncapacity while lowering fuel consumption and emissions. Linde’s new on-sitefacility uses our advanced technology to supply essential industrial gasessafely and reliably to all our customers in an important industrial market.”

Accordingto market research, the global copper market was worth around $169bn in 2022and is predicted to grow to around $259bn by 2030 with a compound annualgrowth rate (CAGR) of roughly 5.5% between 2023 and 2030.

Lindehas made several ASU announcements in Asia this year. Most recently, inSeptember 2024, it entered into a plant sale agreement with Tata Steel to buytwo 1,800 tonnes per day ASUs from its Kalinganagar Phase 2 expansion project.

Thisfollowed Tata Steel’s September 2023 announcement of Linde India as the winningbidder to own, operate, and maintain the gas supply infrastructure at TataSteel’s Kalinganagar plant.

Underthis agreement, Linde India will manage the supply of industrial gases to thesteel plant for a period of 20 years.

Source:gasworld