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wiredInUSA - August 2014

38

Mr MS Hidayat, industry minister of

Indonesia, has launched the construction

of a $200 million integrated blast furnace.

Construction of the steel mill is being carried

out by PT Gunung Gahapi Nisco Indonesia,

a joint venture between Indonesian steel

maker PT Gunung Gahapi Sakti and

China’s Nanjing Iron and Steel Company,

on a 40 hectare site.

The first phase, at a cost of around $100

million, is expected to be completed

next year and the second phase by 2017.

Commercial operations will begin in 2015

to produce 500,000 tonnes of concrete

reinforcing steel and wire rod a year in its

initial phase. Capacity will be upgraded

by another 500,000 tonnes in the second

phase.

Mr Hidayat described the “wise decision”

byGahapi andNanjing toproducewire rod

and concrete-reinforcing steel to supply

local makers of prestressed concrete steel,

steel wire ropes, cable stayed, steel cord,

nuts and bolts and nails. The enterprise is

expected to help improve the quality of

domestic wire rod that fails to meet the

standards needed to produce wire rod

high carbon and alloy steel.

Steel mill construction

National electricity companies in West

Africa are seeking to establish a reliable

power grid for the region.

Working in cooperation, the West African

Power Pool will establish a plant in Ghana

to generate about 450MW of power to

selected West African countries.

President John Mahama, speaking to the

president of Sierra Leone, expressed the

hope that the additional power will help

to drive economic growth in the area.

He noted that West Africa is currently

experiencing fast growth, but that energy

supply is a major constraint.

The president indicated that in his capacity

as chairman of the economic community

of west African states, his focus will be: “How

we can push through the integration of our

infrastructure, most especially energy.” He

said the plant will “utilize Ghanaian gas

from our future gas discoveries to produce

450 megawatts of power.” The generated

power will be transmitted through Cote

D’Ivoire to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

West Africa grid

John Mahama

Mr MS Hidayat