President Yudhoyono Inspects Krakatau POSCO Project

Cilegon, West Java, Feb 29 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday morning made an inspection of the construction of the steel plant PT Krakatau Posco in Cilegon, Banten. The President arrived at the location of the project along with First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and a number of cabinet ministers including Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Rajasa, Industry Ministry MS Hidayat, State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, and Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan. Before inspecting the project, Yudhoyono heard an explanation from President Director of PT Krakatau Posco Kim Dong-ho on the operations of the plant which is a joint venture between Indonesia and South Korea. PT Krakatau Steel (KS), Pohang Steel and Iron Corporation (Posco) of South Korea have officially set up PT Krakatau Posco, a joint integrated steel industry in Indonesia with an investment of some six billion US dollars or Rp54 trillion. In its preliminary composition, the joint venture comprised 70 pct of Posco and 30 pct of Krakatau Steel (KS). Theb after one year, the portion of the shares of KS will increase to 45 pct, and Posco 55 pct. The investment of the project slated to operate in 2014, is Rp38 trillion during the construction period, and Rp31 trillion in the production stage. President Director of PT Krakatau Steel Fazwar Bujang said the current production capacity of Krakatau Steel is 3.15 million tons per year. He estimated that the production capacity could be raised to 4.52 million tons per year. In the meantime, the Krakatau Posco joint venture can produce 3 million tons of steel per year. In the next investment stage, the capacity may be raised to 6 million tons per year.