On January 20, Indonesian Industry Minister Mohamad Suleman Hidayat stated that Hong Kong-listed special steel producer China Nickel Resources has set up a company called PT Mandan Steel in the Indonesian province of South Kalimantan, initially aiming to produce 500,000 mt of steel billets a year at an investment cost of $220 million.
The Indonesian minister said that China Nickel Resources will increase its investment over the next five years to $3 billion to boost production to 3 million mt a year. Around 40 percent of the billets produced will be sold in Indonesia, with the remainder to be exported to China.