Indonesian steelmaker plans expansion

The firm is conducting a feasibility study and should begin land acquisition gradually by the end of this year, president director Irvan Kamal Hakim said in Jakarta. 

Krakatau had yet to pick a location for the new facility, but the firm expected to develop in a new area, in a possible exchange of a 40-hectare plot which it was ready to release to Asia’s second-largest petrochemical producer, Honam Petrochemical Corp, he added. 

The South Korean petrochemical giant reportedly plans to invest around $5 billion to build a petrochemical complex in Cilegon, Banten, where major petrochemical plants are concentrated. 

“We expect the new mill will be up and running in 2015 when it is set to process around 1 million tonnes of steel,” Irvan told reporters at the Industry Ministry’s office. 

At present, Krakatau’s hot strip mill has a capacity of around 2.4 million tonnes per year, while its overall rolling capacity is around 3.25 million tonnes per year, generated by a set of mills, including hot strip mill, wire rod mill, bar mill and section mill. The planned hot strip mill is expected to help the firm to upgrade its total rolling capacity to 4.25 million tonnes per year.