South Korea's commerce minister visited the construction site of POSCO's steel
mill in Indonesia on Wednesday to encourage employees working for the project,
officials said.
In July last year, South Korea's leading steelmaker POSCO
and PT Krakatau Steel, Indonesia's largest steelmaker, started work on their
steel joint venture in Cilegon, West Java to meet growing demand in Southeast
Asia.
During the visit, Hong Seok-woo said the steel mill will help
boost the competitiveness of the Indonesian steel industry, and further grow the
Indonesian economy, according to the commerce ministry.
The Korean
company owns 70 percent of the venture, while PT Krakatau has the option to
increase its share from 30 to 45 percent. The two companies will spend a total
of US$6 billion on the project.
The mill with an annual capacity of 3
million tons is due for completion in 2013, with the goal to reach 6 million
tons in the future, POSCO said earlier.
The South Korean company
expects the deal to help it secure a footing in the Southeast Asian market,
whose annual steel demand amounts to more than 30 million tons, and gain
valuable natural resources.
As the world's third-largest steelmaker,
POSCO has been seeking to buy coal and iron ore mines in countries such as
Australia, Canada and Brazil in a bid to secure stable supplies of materials
used to make steel products.
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