SSGPO and Outokumpu to build metal briquette plant in Kazakhstan

/REUTERS, Almaty, Tatyana Seroshatanova, Febraury 3, 05/ - Sokolovsko - Sarbaykoye ore processing plant (SSGPO), main supplier to Russia-based Magnitogorsk steelmaking plant, and Finnish Outokumpu will erect a metal briquette plant in Kazakhstan, SSGPO informed. The announcement gives no details about the cost of the project. In September 2004 SSGPO informed it was seeking investors which would invest additional $350 m in plant erection. In December 2004 the management of SSGPO JSC entered into agreement with Outokumpu Technology (Finland) about creation of plant for ferrum recovery, with full capacity of 2 bn tones a year", the announcement says. The announcement does not disclose the timing and other conditions of the project. "Detailed information will be released later", the press service said in a statement. IRANIAN-TURKISH PLANS Apart from Magnitogrsk, major buyers of SSGPO output are Tchelyabinsk metallurgical plant (a unit of Mechel), Kazakh Mittal Steel Temiratuy JSC and China. SSGPO contemplates increasing its output to 16.5 m tones of ore in 2005 from 14.8 m in 2004 and considers penetrating other markets including Iran and Turkey. "Upon developmnt of port terminals at Caspian another opportunity to export an ore ... will arise", the statement says. According to the representative of the information services of SSGPO, the volume of exported ore will remain dependant on Aktau port development in Kazakhstan. He gave no further details. [2005-02-03]