South Korean steelmaker POSCO has announced that it is entering the ferrosilicon aluminum (FeSiAl) material development business in Kazakhstan and signed a joint venture memorandum with Kazakh Zaman Group to establish a FeSiAl manufacturing company.
According to the memorandum, POSCO and Zaman Group will each invest 60 percent and 40 percent in the project respectively to start construction in 2011 of a FeSiAl manufacturing factory in the Ekibastus region, located on northeastern Kazakhstan. POSCO plans to start production at approximately 45,000 mt annually, and increase it to 400,000 mt per year later on.
With the establishment of this joint venture, POSCO will now be able to secure a stable FeSiAl source which previously depended entirely on imports. Also, the company plans to utilize the resources of the Kazakhstan and CIS regions to proactively promote material development projects at POSCO family level.