Major Indonesian integrated steelmaker PT Krakatau Steel is defending its market share of the domestic hot-rolled coil market in the face of more flat steel capacity coming on stream in the country from 2019 onward.
It is adding a second hot strip mill at its 55-hectare complex in Cilegon, West Java, which it expects to come online in the second half of this year. The new 1.5-million-tpy mill will add to its existing 2.4-million-tpy hot strip capacity. Krakatau Steel also fired up its first 1.2-million-tpy blast furnace just last month - on December 20 - after years of delays. The blow-in was originally scheduled for 2016 but was postponed several times to June 2018, before being eventually pushed back to December 2018.Strategic changes?Market participants in Asia are looking out for any changes to Krakatau Steel's sales strategy once its new hot strip mill starts up."Krakatau Steel has typically kept prices high for the domestic market. There may not be much of an impact in terms of HRC import volumes if domestic prices remain high because buyers will continue to look toward imports to fulfill their...