JFE Steel and Mitsui to produce silicomanganese in China
Japanese steelmaker JFE Steel and Japanese
trading firm Mitsui & Co., along with Erdos Manganese
Alloys Co., a subsidiary of Erdos Cashmere Group announced that they have agreed to establish a joint venture to construct a plant in
China's Inner
Mongolia region with an annual capacity of 150'000 tons of silicomanganese, which will be one of the largest plants in
China.
The
construction of the plant is expected to begin in October 2004, with
production expected to begin in summer 2005.
Construction of the plant is expected to cost around $40 million. Erdos Group will have a 51% stake in the joint venture, while JFE Steel and Mitsui will each hold a 24.5% stake in the venture.
The plant will have 4 electric arc furnaces, each with power of 25'000 kilovolt-amperes. The plant will export around 100'000 tons of products to
Japan and the remaining 50'000 tons will be sold in other
Far East countries, especially
China.
According to officials from JFE Steel, this joint venture will allow the producer to stabilize the supply of silicomanganese which has seen volatile prices due to the high global demand, especially from
China and will enable the company to satisfy nearly all of its requirements for the raw material.