Commissioning of International Steel’s (ISL) new mill increases their cold rolling capacity to 1.0 million tons and reaffirms their position as Pakistan’s largest cold roller. Its competitor, Aisha Steel’s expansion is due in 2019, where increased capacity would be just shy 0.8mn tons.
In a country with zero indigenous iron production and where steel makes up nearly 10 per cent of our import bill out of which approximately 45 per cent is finished (or value added), ISL’s expansion serves to bridge the gap between the country’s ever-increasing steel requirement and the domestic capacity for value addition.
This expansion will allow ISL to produce a greater amount of zinc coated or galvanized sheets which are further up the steel value chain. Besides operational efficiencies and economies of scale, ISL will be eligible for a 10 per cent tax credit on its Rs5.6 billion investment. ISL will retain its monopoly on the domestic production of galvanized steel up until Aisha’s expansion comes into play next year.
