As per media reports, Indonesia's state owned Krakatau Steel has 5 highly eligible suitors including ArcelorMittal, TATA Steel, Essar Steel, BlueScope Steel and POSCO.

Mr Ansari Bukhari director general for metal, machinery & textiles of Indonesia said that the first four namely ArcelorMittal, TATA Steel, Essar Steel and BlueScope had evinced interest, while Mr Sofyan Djalil enterprises minister of Indonesia had mentioned POSCO's name.

However, POSCO said that ''The Indonesian government has not announced details of a privatization plan for Krakatau Steel yet and we have not expressed interest in the company.''

According to Indonesian vice President Mr Jusuf Kalla, Krakatau has not been able to raise its production capacity due to lack of funds and technology. This causes Indonesia to import 6 million tonne per annum. Mr Kalla said that it was not possible for Krakatau Steel to make profits if it did not engage in the steel industry from the upstream to the downstream levels like Mittal or TATA and other steel industries in the world.

Krakatau Steel produces 2.5 million tonnes per year and is valued at USD 1.2 billion. In 2007, Krakatau Steel posted a net profit of around IDR 370 billion. In the first quarter of 2008 alone, the figure already reached IDR 400 billion.