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T Commonwealth Steel Indonesia, also known as Moly Cop Indonesia, kicked off on Tuesday the operation of a new plant in Cilegon, Banten, that was built with an investment of US$24 million.

The plant will be able to produce 50,000 tons of forged mid-size steel balls annually, used in the grinding of mineral ores and other particulate materials. In the initial phase, Moly Cop would operate at half of its total installed capacity, which could be increased later in line with market demand, said president director Adrian Boltong.

The output would supply its current major customers, such as PT Freeport Indonesia and PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, as well as a number of smaller miners.

'€œWe are currently importing steel balls of this size from Australia. With the new plant, we will be able to improve national production,'€ Boltong said. Moly Cop would largely source its raw material '€” bar feed '€” from Indonesia'€™s biggest steelmaker, PT Krakatau Steel, and the rest from overseas, he added.

The new plant will be Moly Cop'€™s second facility in Indonesia. The first facility, located close to the new one, has been running for two decades and annually makes 30,000 tons of small-sized steel balls.

At present Moly Cop holds a leading position in the Indonesian market with a share of more than 90 percent, according to the firm.

The grinding media made by the Cilegon plant are used widely throughout Asia, primarily in mining operations that extract copper, iron ore and gold.

Moly Cop is a subsidiary of Arrium Group, a global diversified mining and materials firm listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, particularly under its mining consumables division. Its grinding-ball manufacturing business spans seven countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, Indonesia, Mexico, the US and Peru.

Boltong said that due to long-term business prospects in Indonesia, Moly Cop planned to build another facility to manufacture bigger-sized grinding balls in the future. The investment might total up to $10 million to cover 100,000 tons of capacity.

'€œWe'€™re still working on it. It may be realized in the next four to five years,'€ Boltong said.

Speaking after the kicking-off ceremony, Industry Minister Saleh Husin expected that the expansion of Moly Cop'€™s business would bring multiplier effects to the domestic steel and mining industry.