Krakatau stops production of upstream steel products
Friday, March 18 2016 - 04:41 AM WIB
IDX-listed steel maker PT Krakatau Steel has stopped production of upstream steel products amid tougher competition with cheaper imports from China, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Friday.
The paper quoted Krakatau Director for Human Resources and Business Development Imam Purwanto as saying that the company has now been importing the half-processed steel products to be processed at home into downstream steel products such as HRC, CRC and wire rod.
The switch to import was also made to help cut down cost amid high price of natural gas, he added.
Krakatau, however, is optimistic that sales volume this year will increase by 41 percent to 2.7 million tons from 1.9 million tons last year.(*)