The world's biggest steel maker ArcelorMittal said on March 16 it plans to build a $130 million steel plant in Kurdish northern Iraq in partnership with the Turkish company Dayen.
ArcelorMittal "signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint venture with Turkish partner Dayen to build a steel mini-mill with electric furnace in Sulaimaniyah," a city in the Kurdish-administered northern region.
The Luxembourg-based steel company said it and Dayen would invest between $100 million and $130 million in the plant which will aim to produce at least a quarter of a million tons of steel rods a year.
ArcelorMittal said it plans to start building the plant in the second quarter of this year and to start producing steel there in late 2011.
"There are many opportunities for ArcelorMittal to assist in the development of the country," company board member Christophe Cornier said.
"There is great demand for steel products for the local construction industry."
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
