N Sumatra's Iron Imports Up 30 Pct

This photo taken on December 25, 2010 shows Indonesian miners filling baskets with sulphur before carrying them from the bottom of the crater of Indonesias active Kajah Iwen volcano, in the extreme east of Java island. Some 350 sulphur miners eke out a dangerous and exhausting living on the active volcano, carrying hauls of up to 80 kilos of yellow gold which will be bought by local factories and used to refine sugar or make matches and medicines. The miners extract the liquid sulphur as it flows out of hot iron pipes. Once in the open air, it cools, crystallises and turns bright yellow. The sulphur is then loaded into wicker baskets at either end of bamboo yokes and carried back over the lip of the crater and down the side of the volcano, a treacherous journey of four kilometres (2.5 miles).

North Sumatra’s iron and steel imports in the year to February 2011 rose 30.32 percent to US$32.41 million from the same period a year earlier.
"Since the past few years, North Sumatra’s iron and steel imports have continued to increase on the back of rising needs due to construction of infrastructure facilities as well as robust property business in the region concerned," Head of the Production Statistics Section of the North Sumatra Provincial Statistics Office Erwin Said said here on Sunday.
In the year to February 2011, the province’s iron and steel imports were recorded at US$32.41 million compared with US$24.871 million the year before, he said.
According to him, the higher import value was fueled not only by raising volume but also by a surge in prices. An upward trend in the import of iron and steel could be seen from last year when the figure was recorded at US$15.094 million in January and US$17.318 million in February.
"Based on data, the iron and steel imports were mostly from China. We imported the goods because domestic production fell short of rising demand in North Sumatra," he said.
Head of the Domestic Trade Section at the North Sumatra Provincial Industry and Trade Office Margaretha Elly Silalahi said the imported iron and steel entering North Sumatra must meet the Indonesian National Standard (SNI).