Indonesia exports steel products for first time to New Zealand

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JAKARTA (XINHUA) – Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan inaugurated yesterday the first export of Indonesia-produced structure and plate steel to New Zealand.

The 3,800 metric tonnes of steel products worth USD4 million were produced by PT Gunung Raja Paksi (GGRP), a member of Gunung Steel Group, one of Indonesia’s largest private steel companies with a production capacity of 2.2 million tonnes per year.

Hasan said that the exported steel would be used to establish a hospital in New Zealand.

“I really appreciate the GGRP for its hard work to improve Indonesia’s steel production, even amid the pandemic. We have to be grateful that we can still push our exports,” Hasan said in a written statement after the inauguration.

He said that steel was one of the commodities with the largest export values in Indonesia.

In 2021, the value of Indonesia’s iron and steel exports reached USD21.4 billion, up by 90.2 per cent from USD11.2 billion in 2020, according to data from the Trade Ministry.