SINOSTEEL, the $16-billion state-owned Chinese steel major, will start work on its proposed unit in West Bengal in April. The new unit due to come up in the port town of Haldia will be Sinosteel's first manufacturing presence in India. Sinosteel, which plans an investment of Rs 200 crore, will manufacture cold forged steel rolls used in cold rolling mills. "Construction work on our plant in West Bengal will start from April. We have got possession of 30 acres at Haldia on which the plant will come up. We have already placed orders for equipment which will be shipped from China,' Sinosteel India MD Hangseng Wang said. He is in the city to attend a steel seminar. The meet will focus on bringing steel and allied sectors of China and India closer. The Haldia unit will have a capacity of 5,000 tonne and will meet one-third of the requirements in the Indian steel industry. The investment in West Bengal is a part of the $2-billion package being readied by Sinosteel for stepping up its manufacturing presence in India. As part of this project, Sinosteel had signed an MoU last year with the Jharkhand government for a 2-million tonne (mt) integrated steel plant. "All necessary approvals from external affairs, finance and steel ministry have come through. We would like to start work as soon as we get the land,' Mr Wang said. Sinosteel, which is into mining, design and manufacturing of steel plant equipment, has been involved in construction of almost all major plants in China. The proposed project is likely to come up in Silli-Chandil area near Ranchi. Sinosteel is looking at 300 mt of iron ore reserves for which the company will apply for a mining lease. "However, we will not wait for getting a mining lease before we start our operations. Instead, we will stick to our schedule. If necessary, we would source iron ore from private mines in and around the area,' Mr Wang added. China, which produced 489 mt of steel in 2007, is the largest steel producer in the world. "We can do a lot for the fast growing Indian steel industry,' Mr Wang added.

THEglobal steel sector is passing through a phase of extraordinary growth due to all round growth in steel demand led by China and India. International Iron & Steel Institute's (IISI) provisional report shows that the world crude steel production has increased from 1,250 million tonne in 2006 to 1,343 million tonne in 2007. China, with 489 mt of crude steel production, continues to be the largest steel producer in the world, whereas India with 53.1 mt now ranks fifth, up from its eighth rank in 2003. Steel consumption in India is presently growing at nearly 12% and keeping in view the anticipated growth in infrastructure and manufacturing sectors, the demand is further likely to grow by 14-16% during the next few years. During the current year, between April-December 2007, the domestic steel demand has grown at 12.2% over the same period of previous year. However, production has grown at 6.6% in April

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