Jindal Stainless is planning to relocate its Massillon plant from US to
China. Massillon Steel was acquired from Bethlehem Steel and began operating in 2000. The plant has an annual 50'000 ton capacity of
stainless steel cold rolling facility.
Major part of the raw materials for Massillon Steel is supplied by
Jindal plant in Hissar and
stainless steel mills in US.
The officials from
Jindal Satainless state that, although
Jindal has presence in
China, relocation of Massillon plant into
China is to cause
Jindal either to form joint venture with a Chinese company or to sell the plant entirely to a Chinese company. The final decision will be given by the end of next month.
The officials also state that on the condition that a joint venture is formed with a Chinese company, whose name is unrevealed, the Chinese company would manage the plant but
Jindal would have stakes in the company.
It is expected that, relocation of the plant will strengthen the relations of
Jindal and
China, which is one of the most important export markets for the company.
China constitutes 90% exports of
Jindal. In H1 of 2003,
Jindal Stainless' exports were recorded as Rs 2.74 billion ($59.8 million), of which exports to
China constituted 80-85%.