Government of Ras Al Khaimah and Al-Tuwairqi Group of Companies of Saudi Arabia are among 17 international and local investors who expressed their interest for taking part in the privatisation process of Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation, or PSMC, by submitting EoIs to the Privatisation Commission of Pakistan.

It was informed in a meeting, which was held under the chairmanship of Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh Pakistan Minister for Privatisation & Investment in Islamabad yesterday. The meeting was informed that the 17 investors from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Russia, Ukraine, Kuwait, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Pakistan and other parts of the world have submitted their EoI for acquiring 51-74 per cent equity stake in PSMC, together with management control, on an ‘as is, where is’ basis.

Besides Government of Ras Al Khaimah and Al-Tuwairqi Group of Saudi Arabia, the parties include Aljomaih Holding Company, Aqeel Karim Dehdhi Securities (Pvt) Ltd, Arif Habib Securities Ltd, Glencore International AG, Hassan Associates (Pvt) Ltd, International Industries Ltd, International Mineral Resources AG, Jahangir Siddiqui Group Associates, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Nishat Mills Limited, Noor Financial Investment Company, Pacific Chartering & Trading (Pvt) Ltd, Privilege of Sekyra Group, Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation and System Capital Management.

A consortium led by Citigroup Global Markets Limited is advising the Privatisation Commission on the sale. The Minister directed the concerned officials to immediately dispatch Request for Statement of Qualification (RSOQ) to the interested parties to get their quick response.

Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation, located 40km south east of the coastal city of Karachi, is the first integrated iron and steel works of the country, which was set up with techno–economic collaboration of the former USSR. It has a production capacity of 1.1 million tones per annum with built-in potential for a total 3.0 million tones per annum capacity.

The steel mills effectively enjoy a captive domestic market due to the prevalent demand-supply imbalance in the country’s steel industry, where demand has historically exceeded local supply.

In the fiscal year 2004-05, the mills has recorded annual sales of over Rs30 billion and net profit of Rs6 billion.

The meeting also reviewed the progress of the privatisation process of PPL, KESC, Pak American Fertilizers and other upcoming entities of the privatisation programme.

M. Tahsin Khan Iqbal Secretary Ministry of Privatisation & Investment and senior officials of Privatisation Commission attended the meeting.