Press Metal: 100 Phase 3 pots affected by Monday’s smelter fire, no injuries due to swift evacuation

BINTULU (Sept 11): The fire at the Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad (PMetal) plant in Samalaju Industrial Park here on Monday involved its Phase 3 smelter.

In a statement today, PMetal said the fire broke out shortly after 11pm and has since been extinguished.

“The fire affected 100 out of the 300 pots in Phase 3 of the Samalaju smelter.

“Fortunately, Phases 1 and 2 were not impacted. Thanks to swift evacuation procedures, there were no injuries or fatalities reported,” said the company.

The smelter is managed by Press Metal Bintulu Sdn Bhd, an 80 per cent-owned subsidiary of PMetal.

The incident impacted approximately 9 per cent of the company’s total smelting capacity across its Samalaju and Mukah operations, said the statement.

“It is estimated that it will take around four months to restore the damaged pots, which will impact about 3 per cent of the company’s annual smelting capacity on a full-year basis. The affected assets are adequately insured,” the company added.

PMetal, a Malaysian-based aluminium company, has evolved from a modest local aluminium extrusion company in 1986 to a globally integrated aluminium corporation.

With a smelting capacity of 1.08 million tonnes and an extrusion capacity of 210,000 tonnes per annum, it is the largest integrated aluminium producer in Southeast Asia.