Chattogram Bureau :
The construction of the Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited (BSRM)’s new plant over 20 acres of land in Mirsarai upazila is nearing completion. We want to start trial production by late June or early July, followed by full commercial production within a month,” said a responsible official of BSRM. BSRM is a leading steel manufacturing plant of the country which is located in Chattogram. He also told New Nation that the new factory is expected to create employment opportunities for approximately 1,000 workers.
To set up the new re-rolling plant, BSRM secured $50 million low-cost loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) making it Bangladesh’s first private sector recipient under the Japanese agency’s green industrialisation initiatives.
With the new plant fully operational, boosting BSRM’s total production capacity to 24 lakh tonnes, the steel giant hopes to command more than a third of the country’s steel market.
According to BSRM, the total cost of the new factory construction project is estimated at $217 million (equivalent to Tk2,500 crore). Out of this amount, Jica lent $50 million, with the loan to be repaid over 12 years. The loan agreement was signed on 4 October last year, sources said.
Additionally, India’s Export-Import Bank (Exim) has provided a $20 million loan for 12 years; Standard Chartered Bank of Singapore has given $13 million for seven years; and BRAC Bank has loaned $25 million for seven years. All of this credit was given in foreign currency.
Additionally, Prime Bank, Eastern Bank, City Bank, and Infrastructure Development Company Limited (Idcol) extended local currency financing to augment the production capacity of one of BSRM’s melting plants in Mirsarai.
Under this project, a BSRM’s melting plant in Mirsarai had expanded to 7.5 lakh tonnes from 5 lakh tonnes. Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited (BSRM) and BSRM Steels Limited, both publicly listed, manufacture steel products and raw steel billets.
Currently, the group operates two re-rolling factories in the Nasirabad Industrial Area and Faujdarhat Indusrtreial belt – with a combined production capacity of 16 lakh tonnes of steel annually. The new unit in Mirsarai is also a rolling mill.
Besides, Jica has traditionally provided loans to the government for large-scale projects like the MRT and Matarbari deep sea port.