Indonesia’s new large steel mill PT Dexin Steel with 3.5 million mt per year full capacity launched its first blast furnace on February 21, according to the official source. The producer plans to focus on billet sales in both local and export markets and to launch slab production within a few months.
The first blast furnace is capable of producing 1.5 million mt of pig iron per year. The company’s first converter was ready late last year. PT Dexin Steel has already commenced offering of billet to the export market and sold trial volumes to the Philippines in early January for February shipment, as SteelOrbis reported earlier. “We want to start from billets. Slab production may start a few months later. Wire rod and rebar will follow,” the mills’ representative told SteelOrbis. According to sources, the long steel production line has already been completed and the company is waiting for normalization of crude steel production and improvement in the longs steel market to start exporting bars and wire rod.
“They are mostly offering 150 mm billet at the moment, nothing else,” an Asian trader said. Longs steel demand in Indonesia was weak over the past month and the start of billet trading is a logical decision for the newcomer, market sources said.
PT Dexin Steel will produce billets, wire rods, slabs, and bars. China’s Delong Holdings owns a 45 percent stake in PT Dexin Steel, Shanghai Decent holds 43 percent and PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park has 12 percent equity.