Tata Steel is scouting for coking coal and iron ore, mines abroad, including in Brazil and Australia, to ensure raw material security for its European operations.
“We are actively pursuing raw material interests in coking coal and iron ore either in terms of virgin sites with significant resource potential or in terms of smaller existing ventures which can be quickly aligned to the requirements in Europe,” Tata Steel said in its annual report.
Tata Steel Europe, which controls the Corus operations, had imported around 22 million tonnes of iron ore and 11 million tonnes of coal in FY09.
While iron ore was imported from Australia, Canada, South Africa and South America, coal principally came from Australia, Canada and the US. UK-based Corus, which Tata Steel had acquired for $12 billion in 2007, does not have captive iron ore and coal resources.
The Tata Steel group is self-sufficient to the extent of 25 per cent for its iron ore requirements, which is likely to go up gradually to 62 per cent by 2015, as its mines in Canada and Ivory Coast start production, the report said.
“Overall raw material security would reach around 50 per cent by 2015 (and) to around 60 per cent by 2018,” the report said.
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Tata Steel would need to make substantial investment in a phased manner to secure raw material from its overseas mines, it said, adding that the company was also evaluating several other mineral projects in Brazil and Australia.
Tata Steel India is self-sufficient in iron ore and with regard to coking coal it is self-sufficient to the extent of 52 per cent.