Tata Steel looking for chrome ore assets in South Africa
29 Jun 2011
Tata Steel is looking for chrome ore resources in South Africa to secure supply of raw material for its ferrochrome plant in that country.
Tata Steel CEO, HM Nerurkar told reportersthat the company had shortlisted some mines and would announce the details and investments in about two months.
The company operates a ferrochrome plant - Tata Steel KZN Pte Ltd located at Richards Bay on the KwaZulu Natal coast of South Africa. The plant produces high carbon ferrochrome or charge chrome, chromium iron alloy, used in making stainless steel.
Nerurkar sees a strong demand for steel despite the rising interest rates.
''Though commodity inflation is a bit of concern, there is no dip in construction and infrastructure spending. There is some concern on the slowdown in automotive and consumer goods segments, but it is not alarming. Overall I don't see the hike in interest rates as a big problem. The demand for steel would continue at around 11 per cent this year,'' he said.
The company is looking to Karnataka for greenfield expansion where it intends to set up an integrated steel plant in the northern part of the state.