Japanese Sumitomo Group's steelmaking subsidiary Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd (Sumitomo Metals) will take part in the Thai steel plate mill business of Canadoil, an international group of pipe producing companies.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, Canadoil Group is investing around US$600 million in a new plant in Rayong, Thailand to produce high-grade metal, alloy and steel plates for pipes used in the oil and gas industry, with a maximum capacity of 1.2 million mt a year. The company will use Thailand as its regional hub for specialty metal plates when the factory starts operations in 2013.
Sumitomo Metals has invested US$50 million in Canadoil Group's holding company. With this investment Sumitomo Metals will acquire control of around 300,000 metric tons of annual output from Canadoil's Thai steel plate facility from 2013.