Indian state-owned steelmaker Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and South Korea-based POSCO have extended their strategic technology sharing agreement to include product upgrades at SAIL’s IISCO Plant located in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, a company official said on Monday, October 9.
The official said that in the first phase the technical sharing agreement will be leveraged to source POSCO technology for production of special steel grade wire rod for domestic and export markets at the IISCO Plant.
Last year, SAIL and POSCO signed a strategic technology sharing agreement which was part of plans to access South Korean technology in SAIL plants to increase production of special steel products, shifting from SAIL’s current status as a commercial grade steel product manufacturer, the SAIL official added.
The progressive adoption of POSCO technology at the IISCO plant will enable the latter to export the bulk of structural steel products from this location, the official said.
The antiquated IISCO plant constructed in 1922 and then known as Indian Iron and Steel Company Limited merged with SAIL in 2006 and the old plant was scrapped and a new 2.6 million mt per year steel mill was constructed and went into commercial production in 2015.