Tsingshan Holding Group, based in Zhejiang China, a Chinese steel conglomerate, plans to build a carbon steel factory capable of processing 4 to 5 million tons of the alloy per year at its facility in Central Sulawesi, the Indonesian Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartanto told reporters last week.

The project, which is estimated to cost between USD 4-5 billion, will be the group’s latest expansion in Indonesia since 2014, when the Southeast Asian nation banned all exports of nickel ore, a mineral used in the production of stainless steel.

Airlangga announced after a meeting with the Chinese ambassador and the chairman of the Tsingshan Holding Group, Xiang Gangda sadi that “In addition to expanding their existing stainless steel pant, Tsingshan also said it plans to produce carbon steel. To that end, the company requested the import of additional industrial equipment.”

Tsingshan is the cornerstone investor at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park based in Central Sulawesi. The company also operates a ferronickel processing plant capable of producing 500,000 tons of the alloy per year through its subsidiary company, Sulawesi Mining Investment.

SMI’s ferronickel nickel content is recorded at 15%, bringing the total production of pure nickel to around 75 thousand tons annually. Ferronickel is a raw material found in stainless steel, often used in pipes or common household appliances. Carbon steel, on the other hand, is made of small quantities of carbon and iron and is often found in steel wires.

Collected by kaysuns.com