JAKARTA, May 3, 2008 (AFP) – India’s Tata Steel could bid for a stake in Indonesia’s largest steel maker PT Krakatau Steel, according to a report here Saturday. “Tata (Steel) has also expressed their interest in finding out more details in the Krakatau Steel privatisation,” the industry ministry’s director general for metal, Ansari Bukhari, told state-run news agency Antara.
He said a representative of Tata Steel would meet Industry Minister Fahmi Idris early next week.
Tata Steel is the world’s sixth largest steel company with an existing annual crude steel capacity of 28 million tonnes, the company says on its website.
Bukhari’s office confirmed Idris will receive a representative of Australian firm Bluescope Steel Ltd. next week.
BlueScope and ArcelorMittall, the world’s largest steel maker, have also reportedly expressed an interest in Krakatau’s privatisation.
The Financial Times reported last month that ArcelorMittall had earmarked 10 billion dollars for the expansion of its interests in Indonesia.
Bukhari reportedly said another Indian firm, Essar, had expressed similar interest.
Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest e