A joint venture between Indonesian steelmaker PT Krakatau and South Korean steelmaker Posco is at the final stage of construction of its US$3bn integrated steel plant in Cilegon, Banten. A coke oven plant heating up ceremony took place on 11 June 2013.

The US$357M coke oven plant will produce 1.3Mt of coke.

While Krakatau is Indonesia’s largest steel producer, up to now it has relied on the production of direct reduced iron (DRI) to feed electric arc furnaces. In a departure from this the new plant uses conventional blast furnace technology.

The plant, due for completion in December this year is the first phase which will eventually see a 6Mt/y capacity plant on the site at a cost of US$6bn.

In phase 1, the mill will produce 3Mt/y of steel slabs for hot rolling to mainly meet domestic demand, thereby reducing imports.

Source: Daily ‘The Jakarta Post’, Jakarta; 11 June 2013