Stemcor to invest in Indian raw material production

Brahmani River Pellets Ltd, fully backed by Stemcor, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the state-owned Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation and has been assigned 379 acres of state land for the project. The pelletisation plant, located at Kalinga Nagar in Jaipur district, will be connected by a 220km slurry pipeline to the beneficiation plant at Barbil in Keonjhar district, the heart of Orissa’s iron ore mining industry. The plants are due to be commissioned by September 2010.

Stemcor has assembled an experienced project team, headed by Mr. K.V. Rao, who will be using proven technology to take low grade iron ore fines from existing local mines and convert them into high grade pellets for use by the region’s steel producers.

Stemcor had previously invested in Hy-Grade Pellets Ltd, a joint venture with Essar Steel, which has a capacity 8m tonnes per annum. The recent expansion of Essar Steel has meant that Hy-Grade now has little spare capacity for export.

Matthew Stock, Managing Director of Stemcor India, said: ‘The project will be good for the local economy as it will create 350 jobs and will serve the needs of those smaller, non-integrated steel plants that do not have the resources to invest in pelletisation. It will also strengthen Stemcor’s alliances with mills to which we supply raw materials in return for finished steel product.’

Stemcor trades approximately 10m tonnes of steel-making raw materials per annum and has the majority shareholding in the Savage River iron ore mine and pelletisation plant in Tasmania.