Erdemir to Start $700 Million Iron Ore Project, Hurriyet Says

Eregli Demir & Celik Fabrikalari TAS (EREGL), Turkey’s biggest flat steelmaker, will start a $700 million investment to develop an iron ore plant by 2016, Hurriyet reported, citing chairman Fatih Tar.

Erdemir, as the company is called, will tap new iron reserves estimated at 1 billion metric tons in the central province of Malatya, as reserves at its Sivas plant to the north of Malatya will be depleted by 2016 and 2017, Tar said, according to the Istanbul-based newspaper.

Erdemir is upgrading a furnace at a cost of $45 million, as part of annual capacity increase and modernization investments of between $300 million and $400 million, Hurriyet quoted Tar as saying. The company plans to produce 1,800 millimeter-wide steel sheets for the Turkish automotive industry, in addition to 1,525 millimeters it makes, Tar said, according to the newspaper.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Aydan Eksin in Istanbul at aeksin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net