Tata Metaliks considering buyouts

Tata Metaliks was chalking out expansion plans and was considering mergers and acquisitions, as part of its growth strategy. Growth options were being weighed in India and outside.

According to the company's annual report for 2003-04, the business development group of the company was taking initiatives to venture into south-east Asian, South Korea, Japan and other niche markets like Egypt and Dubai.

Back home, Tata Metaliks had applied for prospective licences for iron ore mines. Possible working arrangements with existing lease-holders were also under active consideration. The company had also applied to the government of India for coking coal block.

The move to tie up raw material needs stemmed from rising input prices. The price of LAM coke was still at $450-460 per tonne, which was a cause of concern for the company.

China, the principal supplier, curtailed exports of coke in 2003-04 but, recently issued export licence of 5.4 million tonne of LAM coke. This was likely to ease out the availability of the material in the short term but could have significant impact in the long run in terms of availability and price.