KONTAN.CO.ID - State-owned steel maker Krakatau Steel has initiated the first pushing of a coke oven plant (COP) at its Blast Furnace facility, marking the first step in the operations of the company’s US$500 million facility in Cilegon, Banten.

After months of delays due to financial difficulties resulting from falling steel prices, the overall physical construction of the new facility had reportedly reached 99.37 percent completion as of 31 July.

The firm’s president director, Mas Wigrantoro Roes Setyadi, said the COP was the first phase of the operation of the long-awaited-project, which was expected to start production in January next year.

“The blast furnace facility will increase our competitiveness because it will be integrated with our subsidiaries and joint ventures and will substantially reduce costs,” Mas Wigrantoro said.

Krakatau Steel’s coke oven plant will process coke with a production capacity of 550,000 tons per year, to fuel the blast furnace, allowing the production of 1.2 million tons of hot metal, which will serve as an intermediary material to make a variety of finished steel products.

The intermediary material will be channeled to Krakatau Steel for its own production as well as its subsidiaries and joint ventures.

In running the business, the country’s largest steel maker has engaged in three joint ventures: PT Krakatau Posco Steel, PT Krakatau Osaka Steel and PT Krakatau Nippon Steel.

Editor: Wahyu T.Rahmawati