Jindal takes over Maspion

To meet the rising demand for stainless steel in South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Jindal Stainless Ltd. has acquired the assets of PT Maspion Stainless Steel, Indonesia, for 30-32 mn. In a deal likely to close this September, Jindal Stainless will spend an additional 8-10 mn on doubling capacity in the Indonesia plant to 100,000 tonnes by March 2005.

The offshore plant is to be managed as a wholly owned subsidiary 8216;PT Jindal Stainless Indonesia8217;. The asset acquisition worth US 30-32 mn will be an upfront payment from Jindal Stainless8217; own reserves.

8216;8216;Ours will be the only cold-rolled unit supplying to Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Philippines,8217;8217; Jindal Stainless MD Ratan Jindal said. PT Maspion were operating below capacity due to raw material shortage.