SEOUL, KOREA — Korea’s leading steelmaker, POSCO, said Thursday that it has signed a preliminary deal to buy a stake in a Zimbabwean ferrochrome-smelting firm as part of efforts to secure a stable supply of the key raw material.
The deal with Gurta (Swiss) and AnchorHoldings (Zimbabwe) will permit POSCO to obtain a stake in Maranatha Ferrochrome, Zimbabwe’s third-largest smelting firm, the South Korean firm stated. POSCO said details such as the contract value have yet to be decided. POSCO imports nearly 430,000 tons of ferrochrome a year. Maranatha has an annual capacity of 28,000 tons of ferrochrome, an alloy of chromium and iron used mainly for manufacturing stainless steel.
The majority of the world’s ferrochrome is produced in South Africa, Kazakhstan and India. POSCO has been increasing efforts to develop resources in the African and East Asian regions in a bid to secure a stable supply of key raw materials for steel making. Note that POSCO has been seeking to buy coal and iron ore mines in countries such as Australia, Canada and Brazil in a bid to secure stable supplies of these materials used to make steel products. POSCO said that it is seeking to push up its self sufficiency ratio to over 50% by 2014.
