China Steel plans to build steel plants in S. Kalimantan

China Steel Resources Holding Company will build two steel plants with a combined capacity of 3 million tons per annum in Indonesia, an official said here on Friday.

The construction of the steel plants will be carried out in two stages over a period of five years with the first plant to be built in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

"In the first stage, the steel plant to be built will have a capacity of 1.5 million tons in Banjarmasin. It will be followed by the construction of another plant with a capacity of 1.5 million tons in the second stage," Achmad Kurniadi of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) said as quoting by Xinhua news agency on the sidelines of an international convention of Chinese businessmen in Jakarta.

He said the location of the steel plant to be built in the second stage had not yet been decided.

In Septemnber 2007, China Steel announced plans to build a steel plant in Tanah Bumbu regency, South Kalimantan.

The Chinese firm plans to hold a cornerstone-laying ceremony in October 2007 before commencing the project. However the company and the South Kalimantan administration have not yet signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the plan, Antara new agency reported on Sept. 18, 2007. (*)