DAWEI: Japan may ease the way for ITD

 Tokyo’s involvement would smooth the way to acquiring funding from international institutions, while ITD is selling some of its stakes in potash and aluminium mines to raise funds and increasing registered capital.

LONG-TERM LOANS
ITD president Premchai Karnasuta said yesterday that the company was seeking long-term loans from international financial institutions to finance the Dawei project. Support from Japan will give such institutions confidence to lend for the project.
“If we can secure long-term loans and raise funds, it will no longer be a concern,” he said.
Premchai said the Japan Bank for International Cooperation was willing to finance the project.
He said ITD also had 80,000 rai (12,800 hectares) of saleable land within the Dawei project, of which 30,000 rai was in the process of being sold to investors who are interested in power plants, an integrated steel plant, and the deep-sea port itself. Meanwhile, ITD is offering to sell some of its stakes in a potash mine in Udon Thani province and an aluminium mine in Laos to raise funds.
Chartchai Chutima, deputy chief executive for finance, said the company expected to dilute its share in the aluminium mine to 30 per cent from 45 per cent currently. It will reduce its stake in the potash mine from 100 per cent currently, but will maintain its majority in the asset.
He said these asset sales would begin in the current half of the year.
Premchai said a Chinese company would be a partner in the aluminium mine, which needs an investment budget of US$1.2 billion for the first phase. ITD is dealing with both Thai and foreign investors to partner in the potash mine. It will finalise the partners as well as the mining licence by the end of this year.
An ITD shareholder meeting yesterday approved the increase of registered capital from roughly Bt4.19 billion to Bt5.87 billion by issuing new ordinary shares at par value of Bt1 per share.