State-owned mining holding PT Inalum inked an agreement with its members on Tuesday to assign Indometal London Ltd. as a company based in London to take care of all marketing and trade issues of the holding. The main purpose of the agreement was to generate synergy among holding members -- PT Antam, PT Bukit Asam and PT Timah -- to deal with various global issues, Inalum president director Budi Gunadi Sadikin told The Jakarta Post. Established in 1988 by PT Timah, Indometalu2019s initial purpose was to be PT Timahu2019s sales agent for the European and US markets. The synergy was expected to improve the holdingu2019s bargaining power in the global market for minerals, coal and derivative products and would generate added value, because the holding could use PT Timahu2019s existing network in the global market, Budi said. u201cWe have strong mineral reserves that potentially affect the global mineral market. We will combine our potential with best practices in trade to maximize profit. For example, when we halt nickel exports, the global price will increase. Such power should be used to improve our role in the global mining market,u201d he added. Meanwhile, PT Timah president director Riza Pahlevi Tabrani said the synergy would pave the way for the holding to have a forum with all members to discuss various issues, like on marketing strategies, production, diversification plans and marketing intelligence. (Source : The Jakarta Post)