Indonesian steel producer PT Gunung Raja Paksi has said that it expects a higher net profit next year owing to the sustainable increase in steel consumption in the country even despite some slowdown this year.
Steel use in Indonesia is forecast to increase by 6.8 percent or 1 million mt to 16.1 million mt in 2019. Though such a pace of growth is relatively high compared to some other Southeast Asian countries, it is below the 11 percent increase registered in Indonesia in 2018. “The growth will still be there,” said company president Alouisius Maseimilian. At the same time, PT Gunung Raja Paksi predicts that domestic steel consumption will grow by 7-9 percent annually in the coming years, which will support local steel producers.
Steel sales of PT Gunung Raja Paksi will increase by 3.3 percent to 1.25 million mt this year and will keep growing faster next year. Its net profit is expected to surge by 48 percent to $38.5 million in 2020 compared to the target for the current year.
Domestic sales cover about 96 percent of total steel production of PT Gunung Raja Paksi, with the remaining four percent of volumes exported to the Philippines, Malaysia, Australia and the United States.