Australian-Korean JV to manufacture steel in India

Melbourne, July 1 (UNI) Australia-based mining company, BHP Billiton (BHPB), will partner South Korea's steel giant Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) in setting up a 10 million tonnes per annum steel plant in India.

''The planned BHPB-POSCO plant in Orissa is estimated to cross 10 million tons per annum (MTPA) production mark by 2010, more than Australia's output which stands at 7.56 MTPA,'' The Australian newspaper has reported.

After the joint venture it would be the only steel manufacturing facility directly owned by BHPB, as the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) listed miner had spun out BlueScope Steel in 2002 to handle steel production.

BHBP, popularly known as the Big Australian, has a substantial experience of operating in India as the planned Australian-Korean steel plant in Orissa is not its first foray into the subcontinent.

Recently, the company spun-out formed a joint venture with the Indian steel major Tata Steel to cover the entire South Asian region.

Besides, Australia's largest steelmaker, BlueScope Steel is another major steel producer with presence in India. The Tata-BlueScope combination is, according to The Australian newspaper, planning to build a 250,000-tonnes-a-year zinc/aluminium steel coating line.

The Indo-Australian JV also plans for a 150,000-tonnes-a-year line for painted steel and rollform steel products.

The BHPB-POSCO JV in India has come at a stage when Australian steelmakers are experiencing a downturn with BlueScope Steel planning to close two of its loss-making operations.

The closure would also mean laying-off almost 600 workers.

Interestingly, the closure is being blamed on the "skyrocketing" raw material costs.

India is emerging as an economic superpower which needs huge resources to fuel its double-digit annual GDP growth rate, the paper adds.

Australia has been on the forefronts to provide crucial resources to the large Indian consumers in steel manufacturing and mining sectors.

The BHPB-POSCO JV in India, experts feel, is a receipe for certain success as it combines Australian resources with Korean steel manufacturing expertise.

UNI XC PV HS1347