China’s Yunan-based Kunming Steel plans to build a blast-furnace in Myanmar with a capacity of 4 MnT per year. If successfully completed, it will be the first integrated steel mill in Myanmar.
The blast-furnace based plant is expected to be completed in two phases of 2 MnT per year each along with sintering, coking and power generation facilities. The product profile of the mill will include hot-rolled coil, rebar and wire rod.
Myanmar which is entirely dependent upon imports to meet its steel requirements, annually imports about 2-3 MnT of steel per year. Subsequently, the company plans to fulfil the country’s steel requirement and export the surplus to the neighbouring countries.
Myanmar’s steel demand forecast is around 3 MnT in 2020 and 5 MnT in 2025, driven by construction sector demand, according to the South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute. The bulk of the country’s steel demand is for rebar. Myanmar’s total production capacity was less than 1 MnT per year as of February 2019, with around 400,000 tonnes per year capacity of billet production and around 500,000-600,000 tonnes per year of long steel rolling capacity. Coated sheet capacity is around 300,000-500,000 tonne per year.
Kunming Iron & Steel has taken the responsibility to be a part of China’s ‘One Belt One Road Initiative’. In 2016, the company established Yunan Yongle Overseas Investment Co Ltd as a platform for setting up plants in foreign countries. The company has been working upon collecting data from different channels and are investigating those countries that have market opportunity, rich resources, and have a fast-developing economy.
In 2017, the company had announced its plans to invest in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Cambodia to set up international production capacity co-operation parks. In fact last year, Kunming Steel and a consortium of 17 local companies unveiled their plans to invest USD 3.5 billion to establish a Bangladesh-China joint venture integrated steel plant in Moheshkhali, Chittagong. More than 20 lakh tonne of steel products would be manufactured at the plant and the plant is being set up to promote import substitution by producing steel that is usually imported in the country.
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