Mitsui to Expand Steel Sheet Business in India

Mitsui & Co., Japanese general trading company, plans to complete expansion of cold rolling mill at Indian Steel Corporation (ISC) within 2010. ISC is a joint venture to produce galvanized steel sheet in India, in which Mitsui commits with 20% equity. The capacity is scheduled to triple to 600,000 tonnes per year from present 200,000 tonnes in order to meet increasing demand for construction materials. Mitsui also plans to establish a coil center in India in cooperation with Ruchi Group, a joint venture partner in ISC to follow steel demand growth in car and home appliance markets in India.

ISC is located in Gujarat with cold rolling mill and galvanizing line. The JV also schedules to introduce a productive line for colored steel sheet. The cold rolling mill was initially scheduled to be expanded to 400,000 tonnes per year but the plan was reviewed in response to steady steel demand growth in India.

Mitsui will establish its first coil center in India in New Delhi and start operation in July 2011. The coil center is scheduled to process 140,000 tonnes of flat steels per year for automobiles, home appliances and construction materials. Total investment for the project will be 2 billion yen. Mitsui also eyes next coil center establishment in Mumbai and Chennai where Japanese automakers operate local plants.

In India, steel consumption increased by 7.2% to 56.32 million tonnes in fiscal 2009 ended in March 2010 compared with fiscal 2008. The consumption is forecasted to exceed 60 million tonnes in fiscal 2011 along the increase of infrastructure construction and middle income group.