China Nickel plans to invest $450 million steel industry in Indonesia
China Nickel Resources Holdings Co Ltd plans to invest $450 million to develop a steel factory in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province, a senior Indonesia government official said late on Thursday.
The steel factory will have the capacity of 1 million tonnes of billet and slab — semi-finished materials used in the production of hot-rolled-coils, which in turn are used in construction and ship building.
“Construction of the factory is expected to start in December this year,” Anshari Bukhari, director general for metal, machinery and textiles at the Industry Ministry, said.
The factory will source iron ore from mining firm PT Yiwan Mining, which already has operations in East Kalimantan, he said.
Indonesia mainly imports hot-rolled steel coil from China, India and Korea, with total imports of 400,000 tonnes a year.
Indonesia produces about 2 million tonnes of iron ore every year but around 1.8 million was exported in 2006, mostly to China.
