Local steel grating company optimistic
Local steel grating company optimistic
JAKARTA (JP): PT Webforge Indonesia, a manufacturer and
fabricator of steel grating whose prices are said to be 20
percent lower than imports, is optimistic that its products will
win a place on the domestic market.
The chief commissioner of Webforge Indonesia, Harjono
Kartohadiprodjo, said yesterday the company, which will soon
officially open its factory in Bekasi, West Java, expects to reap
some Rp 1 billion (US$434,782) in revenues a month from the sales
of steel grating.
Steel grating is used as a substitute for concrete floors in
various industrial sites, including cement plants, mines, power-
generator plants, petrochemical factories and off-shore oil
platforms.
Webforge Indonesia's general manager, Wilyn, said the
competitiveness of the company's prices is a result of its
ability to cut down costs in the manufacturing process.
Webforge Indonesia is wholly owned by the Webforge Group of
Australia and is affiliated with Pacific BBA Limited-Australia.
The company started fabricating steel grating in December,
1994, but only started fully manufacturing in December 1995.
The factory, which will be officially opened next Monday, was
built with an investment of $7 million and has a production
capacity of 8,000 tons of steel grating a year. Its raw materials
are wholly imported.
Wilyn said the company is currently focusing its sales on the
domestic market, but will move on to the export market once it
can boost its production level. The company is presently
producing at about 40 percent of its capacity.
The company's services include shop-detail drawing, making
layout plans for erection, fabrication of grating panels and hot-
dip galvanizing.
Harjono said Webforge Indonesia currently has competition from
imports from South Korea, Canada and European countries. It is
the first company in Indonesia to fully manufacture steel
grating.
He said that Krakatau Steel, the state-owned steel
manufacturing company, is reluctant to enter the steel grating
sector because the domestic demand for such a product is only
1,000 tons a month.
"A production level of less than 10,000 tons a month is
considered inefficient for Krakatau Steel," Harjono said.
He said Webforge Indonesia expects to reach a break-even point
after three years of full-scale manufacturing activities. (pwn)