27 Feb 2026
PT Garam Partners with Pertamina Balikpapan's RDMP to Work on a Jumbo Project of IDR 7 Trillion
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - PT Garam is preparing a project to process brine waste into industrial salt with PT Pertamina. This massive investment project is targeted to begin operations in 2026 with a production capacity of 1 million tons per year.
PT Garam Corporate Secretary, Indra Kurniawan, said the facility will be built in Balikpapan, utilizing wastewater from Pertamina's Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) project. Currently, the brine left over from the RDMP process has only been neutralized before being released back into the sea.
"The next project we are collaborating with Pertamina will involve an investment of around IDR 7 trillion, with a capacity of 1 million tons. The largest is indeed the Balikpapan project with Pertamina," Indra said when met at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) office in Jakarta on Thursday (February 12, 2026).
He explained that Pertamina requires clean water for boiler operations during the RDMP operation. Meanwhile, the brine byproduct of the process has not been utilized economically.
"We offered Pertamina the option to take their wastewater, rather than treating it for disposal, which yields no results. Pertamina, through PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional, welcomed this, and Pertamina Holding also supported it," he said.
The industrial salt factory will utilize brine from the Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) facility at the Pertamina Balikpapan Refinery. This scheme is considered in line with efforts to optimize industrial waste while strengthening the domestic industrial salt supply.
Going forward, PT Garam, Pertamina, and the Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency (BPI Danantara) will form a new entity to manage the project.
"And we have agreed to form a new entity to process the salt in Balikpapan. We will establish a new PT later," Indra explained.
Under this collaboration, PT Garam will take wastewater with a minimum water content of 4 degrees Baume and then process it using Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) technology to convert it back into industrial salt.
"We have signed an MOU with Pertamina, and we are currently preparing a feasibility study. We will take the wastewater and process it using MVR technology to turn it into industrial salt," he explained.
Groundbreaking Planned for April 2026
He said the project has been presented to Danantara, with the groundbreaking date for the PT Garam-Pertamina collaboration scheduled for April 2026.
"The installed capacity will be 1 million tons, as the water potential is enormous. The initial water we can utilize is wastewater with a minimum of 4 degrees Baume, which we will process into industrial salt," he explained.
In addition to partnering with Pertamina, PT Garam is also preparing six other projects as part of its strategy to strengthen the national salt industry by 2026. These plans include the construction of a salt processing plant in Rote Ndao, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), with an initial capacity of 200,000 tons per year, and a salt processing facility in Bipolo, NTT, with a capacity of 109,842 tons per year.
In addition, the company is designing two salt plant projects based on Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) technology in Gresik, one in collaboration with Citycon with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year and one with ACWA Power with a capacity of 400,000 tons per year.
PT Garam will also build a Calcium-Magnesium (Ca-Mg) plant in Sampang, Madura, which will utilize bittern as a salt derivative. Meanwhile, in East Java, the company plans to establish an industrial salt plant in Sumenep with a capacity of between 80,000 and 160,000 tons per year.
Read the full CNBC Indonesia article "PT Garam Partners with Pertamina Balikpapan's RDMP to Work on a Jumbo Rp7 Trillion Project" here: https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20260212143855-4-710642/pt-garam-gandeng-rdmp-pertamina-balikpapan-garap-proyek-jumbo-rp7-t
Download the CNBC Indonesia app now: https://app.cnbcindonesia.com/
PT Garam Corporate Secretary, Indra Kurniawan, said the facility will be built in Balikpapan, utilizing wastewater from Pertamina's Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) project. Currently, the brine left over from the RDMP process has only been neutralized before being released back into the sea.
"The next project we are collaborating with Pertamina will involve an investment of around IDR 7 trillion, with a capacity of 1 million tons. The largest is indeed the Balikpapan project with Pertamina," Indra said when met at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) office in Jakarta on Thursday (February 12, 2026).
He explained that Pertamina requires clean water for boiler operations during the RDMP operation. Meanwhile, the brine byproduct of the process has not been utilized economically.
"We offered Pertamina the option to take their wastewater, rather than treating it for disposal, which yields no results. Pertamina, through PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional, welcomed this, and Pertamina Holding also supported it," he said.
The industrial salt factory will utilize brine from the Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) facility at the Pertamina Balikpapan Refinery. This scheme is considered in line with efforts to optimize industrial waste while strengthening the domestic industrial salt supply.
Going forward, PT Garam, Pertamina, and the Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency (BPI Danantara) will form a new entity to manage the project.
"And we have agreed to form a new entity to process the salt in Balikpapan. We will establish a new PT later," Indra explained.
Under this collaboration, PT Garam will take wastewater with a minimum water content of 4 degrees Baume and then process it using Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) technology to convert it back into industrial salt.
"We have signed an MOU with Pertamina, and we are currently preparing a feasibility study. We will take the wastewater and process it using MVR technology to turn it into industrial salt," he explained.
Groundbreaking Planned for April 2026
He said the project has been presented to Danantara, with the groundbreaking date for the PT Garam-Pertamina collaboration scheduled for April 2026.
"The installed capacity will be 1 million tons, as the water potential is enormous. The initial water we can utilize is wastewater with a minimum of 4 degrees Baume, which we will process into industrial salt," he explained.
In addition to partnering with Pertamina, PT Garam is also preparing six other projects as part of its strategy to strengthen the national salt industry by 2026. These plans include the construction of a salt processing plant in Rote Ndao, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), with an initial capacity of 200,000 tons per year, and a salt processing facility in Bipolo, NTT, with a capacity of 109,842 tons per year.
In addition, the company is designing two salt plant projects based on Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) technology in Gresik, one in collaboration with Citycon with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year and one with ACWA Power with a capacity of 400,000 tons per year.
PT Garam will also build a Calcium-Magnesium (Ca-Mg) plant in Sampang, Madura, which will utilize bittern as a salt derivative. Meanwhile, in East Java, the company plans to establish an industrial salt plant in Sumenep with a capacity of between 80,000 and 160,000 tons per year.
Read the full CNBC Indonesia article "PT Garam Partners with Pertamina Balikpapan's RDMP to Work on a Jumbo Rp7 Trillion Project" here: https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20260212143855-4-710642/pt-garam-gandeng-rdmp-pertamina-balikpapan-garap-proyek-jumbo-rp7-t
Download the CNBC Indonesia app now: https://app.cnbcindonesia.com/
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