Japan’s JFE Steel will join with Singapore-based Meranti Steel in building a galvanising and colour coating joint venture in Myanmar’s Thilawa Special Economic Zone, the companies tell Kallanish. While the galvanising line is planned to begin operation in 2020, the colour coating line could enter into operation slightly sooner.
The plant will have 180,000 tonnes/year of hot dip galvanising capacity and a 100,000 t/y colour-coating line and will see a total investment of around $85 million, according to a JFE Steel press release. The venture, JFE Meranti Myanmar, would be held by a Singapore-based holding company, which in turn would be owned by JFE Steel (35%), Meranti (20%), JFE Shoji (15%), Marubeni-Itochu Steel (15%) and Hanwa (15%).
JFE notes that Myanmar steel demand has increased steadily since democratisation in 2011 and is expected to continue to grow. Currently most steel products are imported but there is a wave of ongoing investments in steel processing and fabrication, much of it centred on the Thilawa zone.
Meranti had previously said it was looking to open a galvanising line in the zone with a twin pot system to enable both zinc and zinc-aluminium coatings. It said at the time that around 80% of output would be sold domestically and the rest exported.