News Room - Steel Industry

Posted on 05 Sep 2007

Japan firm to invest in new steel mill

Japan's Metal One Corp., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp, will have a 26 per cent stake in Aisha Steel Mills (ASM), a joint venture firm being set up in Pakistan to meet growing demand, a venture official said.

Pakistani firms — Universal Metal Corp and Arif Habib Ltd - will have a 49 per cent and 25 per cent stake, respectively, in the venture, being established in Karachi at a cost of $100 million, said Hasib Rehman, chief executive of ASM.

"The plant is expected to be completed in two years and it will have an initial capacity of 220,000 tons per annum," Rehman told Reuters.

"The steel mills will cater to the growing demand of cold-rolled coils (CRCs) in the country and cater to the automotive and engineering industries, as well as value-added products for the home appliances sector," he said.

The capacity of the mills will be later increased to 350,000 tons, said Rehman.

Annual demand for CRCs in Pakistan is about 450,000 tons, most of which is met through imports, analysts said.

ASM would be the second Pakistani firm to manufacture CRCs after the state-run Pakistan Steel Mills.