LNM accepted EU's plan for PHS, a desicion to come out soon

LNM accepted EU’s plan for PHS, a desicion to come out soon

London-based steelmaker LNM Group was due to give its final offer for the privatisation of Polish mill Polski Huty Stali (PHS) at the end of last week. Unlike US Steel (USS) having some concerns about the restructuring plan which is set out by the EU, LNM confirmed its acceptance of this plan. Ministry of the treasury in Poland stated that the winner will be announced by the end of this month or early June. Besides, the minister appointed for the privatisation reported that unless any bid will be found better than the other both LNM and USS will be invited for further negotiations. LNM is planning to allocate $300 million for the investment to take place between 2007-2010, which is almost $75 million per year. LNM also said that they can be interested in privatisation of the other steel mills including Huta Zawierce, Huta Ostrowiec and Huta Czestochowa. Meanwhile, PHS decided to delay the construction of the new blooms and slab caster with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tons to increase its annual capacity to 3 million tons. The construction will restart when a strategic investor is determined.