Tata Steel seeks acquisitions in Asia
India's largest private-sector steelmaker, Tata Steel, reportedly seeks to acquire plants in the downstream steel-processing industry throughout Asia as part of its expansion plans. Company officials indicated that they are targeting plants that operate rolling or finishing units. Tridibesh Mukherjee, Tata Steel's Deputy Managing Director, said: “We plan to take the raw material from India and add value to them in the destination country. We are looking at a wide range of countries, from the Philippines to Iran. Demand for steel in the next few years in southeastern Asia in particular will be very strong and we think it is sensible to have more plants close to where a lot of customers are.” As previously reported by SteelOrbis, Tata Steel announced plans to increase its steel production to more than 20 million ton over the next 10-12 years. The expansion plan is expected to cost $23 billion.