Muscat - Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), one of India's largest steelmakers that runs the Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel plant in Sohar, plans to commission its new 2mn tonnes per annum (MTPA)-capacity steel plant in Sohar in October.
The company also plans to integrate the new plant with a 1MTPA bar and rod mill at an investment of about US$150mn, according to a senior official.
In reply to a Muscat Daily query, Naushad Ansari, director and head of the Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel plant, said, "Project work is in full swing and we are marching towards culmination of activities. We plan to commission the 2MTPA steel plant in October."
He said the company has invested about US$400mn in the expansion, while its total investment - after the acquisition of Shadeed Iron and Steel and including the DRI/HBI plant and the upcoming 2MTPA plant - will be US$1bn. "The 2MTPA steel-melt shop will be forward integrated with the 1MTPA bar and rod mill at an investment of US$150mn," Ansari said.
On the outlook for the company's products in the Middle East, Ansari said demand for 'long products' in the region will multiply in the next five-six years and the region would remain a net importer of 'long products.'
"As long-product capacities mushroom in the region, with stiff competition from Turkey and Ukraine, the key to remain in business would be cost-competitiveness," Ansari added.
JSPL had acquired Shadeed Iron and Steel from Abu Dhabi's Al Ghaith Holdings in May 2010.
Recent media reports in India quoted Ravi Uppal, managing director and CEO of JSPL, as saying that the company's 2MTPA Oman plant will be the biggest in the Gulf region.
"In Oman, we will commission a steel-melting shop in October. We have also placed orders for bar and rod mills. The steel-melting shop will produce billets and the next logical step is to make bar and rods, long products," Uppal told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.
Uppal was also quoted as saying that the two years - ongoing fiscal and 2014-15 - are going to be a turning point in JSPL's history as the company will more than double its steel production and power-generation capacities during
© Muscat Daily 2013
