TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - PT Krakatau Steel recorded a deficit of US$37 million up to the third quarter of 2018. President director Silmy Karim explained the company had suffered losses for the past six years.

He said the company was presently conducting restructuring to suppress the losses. "And we have done fundamental changes, as well as in the industry, on how we discuss matters related to the national industry of steel,” said Silmy Karim in BEI, Friday, January 4.

The improvement includes distribution, supply, and business organization. The company also continued to seek a strategic partner in a bid to develop its business.

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Silmy also lamented the rampant circulation of imported steel in Indonesia in recent years, which was one of the contributing factors to the company's losses.

According to him, the state-owned steel manufacturer must vie with products exempt from import duty following the issuance of the Trade Ministerial Decree No. 22 of 2018. Hence, Silmy demanded the decree be revised.

“The national steel industry has been going downhill in the past two to three years because of imported steel. If this situation lingers we will not be competing fairly," the Krakatau Steel president director said.

KARTIKA ANGGRAENI