Outokumpu’s Board of Directors has approved plans to build a greenfield stainless steel service center in the western part of India. The service center is scheduled to be in operation in the first half of 2009, at an investment cost of some EUR 30 million. The new service center, with an annual capacity to stock and process some 50,000tns of stainless steel coil, will significantly complement the services that Outokumpu’s Indian sales office has been providing to Indian customers. The service center will have cut-to-length, slitting, polishing and brushing lines to serve among others the metals goods, equipment fabrication, process industries, as well as welded pipe and tube manufacturers. The cold rolled stainless steel coil supply will come mainly from Outokumpu’s integrated stainless steel mill in Tornio, Finland. To further strengthen the Group’s market position in India, Outokumpu is planning to build a new greenfield stainless steel cold rolling mill in India. An initial study has already been completed, and now a more detailed feasibility study on the project has started and is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2008. In the study the possibility of using some of the unused equipment from the Sheffield cold rolling mill that was closed in 2006 will be evaluated. The planned mill would have an annual capacity of some 250,000tns of cold rolled stainless steel coil. The hot rolled feedstock would come from Outokumpu’s integrated stainless steel mill in Tornio, Finland.
