Essar Group doubles steel capacity at Hazira

The Ruias-controlled Essar Group has doubled its steel-manufacturing capacity at this port town in south Gujarat to 10 million tonnes annually, making the unit the fourth-largest such facility at a single location globally. “With this expansion, the steel complex will be able to offer the entire range of flat products from thin strips and thick plates to pipes, cold-rolled and coated products,” said Essar Group chairman Shashi Ruia. “This expansion makes the Hazira Steel Complex the largest single-location flat steel producer in India and the fourth-largest single-location flat steel producer globally,” Ruia added. The Essar group’s flat-steel making capacity now goes up to 14 million tonnes, taking into account the 4 million tonnes per annum capacity of the Algoma Steel unit located in the northeast of Ontario province in Canada. The century-old company was acquired in 2007. According to Dilip Oommen, managing director and chief executive of Essar group, some $7.5 billion were spent to create the 10 million tonne fully integrated steel unit at Hazira, along with the linkages that span raw materials to the final customer. Oommen told IANS that only three other steel-producers had higher capacity at a single unit — Boasteel’s 18.6 million in Yunnan province of China.