SAIL signs strategic pact with POSCO

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has said it had entered into a strategic agreement with South Korean steelmaker POSCO for wide-ranging technical services for its IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) at Burnpur (West Bengal).

Under the agreement, POSCO would provide technical supervising service including its know-how related to operation and maintenance of cokemaking, iron and steelmaking, continuous casting process, cold dust injection operation and wirerod mills.

SAIL-ISP, which has already completed its modernisation and expansion, is ramping up production from its new facilities. And the 0.55-million tonne wire-rod mill of SAIL-ISP would soon be producing wire rods in special grades to meet both domestic and international requirements, an official statement said.

This agreement is a result of an earlier memorandum of understanding (MoU) on technical collaboration for operational improvement and human resource development, which SAIL and POSCO had entered into in November 2016. This technical agreement would pave way for sharing of best practices in the area of technology and maintenance, which would help SAIL-ISP in reaping benefits from its modernised units faster, SAIL Chairman P K Singh said.

Earlier, in May 2015, SAIL and ArcelorMittal had signed an MoU to explore the possibility of setting up an autograde steel-manufacturing facility under a joint venture in India.