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SAIL, Kobe Steel to Form JV for ITmk3® Project Study
12/29/2011 - Steel Authority of India Limited and Kobe Steel, Ltd. have agreed to establish a joint venture company to carry out a detailed feasibility study for a commercial ITmk3® ironmaking plant in India. The plant, which would be constructed at SAIL's Alloy Steels Plant in Durgapur in West Bengal, would have the capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes of iron nuggets per year.
Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Kobe Steel, Ltd. of Japan have agreed to establish a joint venture company to carry out a detailed feasibility study for a commercial ITmk3® ironmaking plant in India. The proposed 50-50 joint venture — provisionally called SAIL-KOBE Iron India Private Limited — will be headquartered in New Delhi.
With ITmk3, a latest-generation ironmaking technology, iron nuggets are produced using iron ore fines and non-coking coal, as compared to conventional blast furnace ironmaking technology which requires iron ore lumps, sinter and coking coal. ITmk3 technology produces high-quality iron nuggets and the technology is also environmental friendly.
The JV project comprises one ITmK3 ironmaking plant and associated facilities with the capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes of iron nuggets per year. The plant, which would be constructed at SAIL's Alloy Steels Plant in Durgapur in West Bengal, would use iron ore from SAIL's mines and non-coking coal sourced within India as the reductant.
"It is my earnest wish that our new ironmaking technology - ITmk3 - will contribute, through this joint venture project with SAIL, to further development of Indian Steel industry as well as of India itself,” said President Kobe Steel Ltd. Mr. Sato. “Further, I do hope this ITmk3 JV Project will become a golden opportunity for both companies to explore other fields where we can collaborate for mutual benefits.”
"The joint venture will bring about an era of path-breaking technological collaboration between the two advanced and modern companies, heralding a new dawn for the Indian steel industry," said SAIL Chairman Mr. C.S. Verma.
Since signing a memorandum of understanding in March 2010, the two companies have worked together on a preliminary study to utilize Kobe Steel’s ITmk3 process. Kobe Steel and SAIL will now carry out the detailed feasibility study to bring about early implementation of the project.
After SAIL and Kobe Steel complete the detailed feasibility study and obtain the environmental permits, plant construction would commence in 2013 at the earliest, and the plant would go into operation in 2015.
Kobe Steel and SAIL will have the right to utilize the iron nuggets produced at the Durgapur plant in proportion to their equity share in the joint venture for their own use. Alternately, the joint venture may sell the nuggets directly to the market.
