Exiting Indonesia, Jindal Stainless considers bringing equipment back

The largest producer of stainless steel in the nation, Jindal Stainless Ltd. (JSL), is leaving its operations in Indonesia due to "unfavourable market conditions," mainly from Chinese dumping that makes operations there unprofitable and high taxes on exports (from the Asian country) into important markets like the USA and Europe. 

The Board has given its preliminary approval to "explore the option for selling or liquidating or divesting equity stake in its subsidiary," according to Abhyuday Jindal, Managing Director of JSL. 

According to Jindal, the decision was made "in the wake of unfavourable market conditions in Indonesia," which included the absence of fair competition, which led to Chinese companies dumping cheaper items there, making competitiveness with Chinese goods "difficult and unsustainable."

The second reason was, while Indonesia was supposed to act as an export hub for EU and the USA markets - key export nations- the dominance of Chinese players has prompted these countries to impose trade barriers - taxes on shipments coming from Indonesia - which are as high 25-35 per cent.