Global Steel buys Colombian firm

Global Steel Holdings, holding company of the M L Mittal-headed Ispat group, has acquired Colombian coal and coke company ColCarbon SA for an undisclosed amount.

Sources in Global Steel confirmed the deal but declined to divulge the acquisition cost. Global Steel owns Ispat Industries which has steel production capacity of 3.5 million tonne a year.

ColCarbon of Columbia has 45 million tonne of guaranteed coking coal reserves. Industry sources said the reserves would move up to 100 million tonne.

The Colombian company also operates coal processing and coke oven batteries to make coke for use in blast furnaces of steel plants. It has coke making capacity one million tonne, and exports to the US and South American companies.

The sources said the acquisition of ColCarbon would help Global Steel secure captive raw material for its steel making capacities across the world.

It would also mark Global Steel's first entry in South American continent, they pointed out.

Global Steel operates and manages about 14 million tonne of steel making capacity across the globe.

It also controls a 1.4 million tonne coke oven company in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company operates and manages steel making and processing units at Bulgaria, Nigeria, Libya, the Philippines and India.