BLUESCOPE STEEL INDONESIA MARKS INDONESIAN US$101 MILLION CAPACITY EXPANSION WITH GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY

Signing process from Mr Fahmi Idris (Indonesia's Minister of Industry)

BlueScope Steel Indonesia today marked the commencement of the construction of a second metallic coating line, with in-line painting capability, at a groundbreaking ceremony at its Cilegon operation, located 100 kms west of Jakarta.  The event was graced by the Indonesian Minister of Industry, Mr Fahmi Idris, the Governor of Banten, Ms Ratu Atut Chosiyah, as well as senior Company officers, key customers, suppliers and local community representatives.

The capacity expansion costing US$101 million[1] will be dedicated to producing BlueScope Steel's thin gauge (0.2 - 0.4 mm) steel coil, used primarily in residential construction. The new line is expected to commence operation by end CY2009 and will provide greater manufacturing efficiencies and economies of scale in the growing Indonesian market.

Yellow rice cutting process to simbolize the events by (from right to left) 
 - Kathryn Fagg: President of Bluescope Steel Asia
 - Rob Crawford: President Director of BlueScope Steel
   Sindomalay
 - Peter Brown: Project Manager for BADAK Project
 - Local Government Representative
 - Abdullah Lubis: VP Manufacturing BlueScope Steel Indonesia

During the ceremony, BlueScope Steel's Managing Director and CEO, Mr Paul O’Malley, said: "We are delighted to reaffirm BlueScope Steel’s commitment to Indonesia and confidence in this market at this event marking the commencement of the construction of our second metallic coating line. Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, is a key market in our growing Asian business. This new facility will help drive BlueScope Steel’s growth strategy given the continued strength of the Indonesian economy and the market’s high regard for BlueScope Steel coated steel products."

BlueScope Steel President Indonesia and Malaysia Rob Crawford said: "The Indonesian market continues to experience strong growth in both the residential and commercial building sectors. BlueScope Steel Indonesia is operating at full capacity, so the new, dedicated line will lead to improved efficiency, increased scale and improve our ability to continue to support our customers' growth with high quality steel products.”

When fully operational, the total additional output of metallic coated steel will be approximately 130,000 tonnes per annum and the additional painted steel output will be approximately 100,000 tonnes per annum. The summary of the increased output is as follows: