Bangladesh: Bashundhara setting up 2 mnt/year HRC production facility

• Production may be ramped up to 4 mnt
  
  
• Flat strip mill to be supplied by EAF facility upstream
  
  
• Tie-up with SMS to plug flat steel supply gap
  
  
• Country's steel capacity to rise from 8 to 13 mnt
  
  

Bashundhara Multisteel Industries Ltd. has signed a contract with technology provider SMS Group to set up an integrated facility for production of more than 2 million tonnes (mnt) of hot-rolled coil (HRC) annually.

The plant will be located at Mirsharai, Chattogram. Gradually, it could be expanded to produce 4 mnt of HRC, which is expected to fill the gap in demand for flat steel products in Bangladesh.

The SMS group is going to install the well-proven state-of-the-art CSP(R) technology to produce HRC with meltshop in the upstream along with auxiliaries.

Surge in demand for flats

Bangladesh has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the Asia Pacific region. The steel industry is also growing remarkably due to rapid development of infrastructure projects, urbanisation and the shipbuilding sector. Although steel production in the country is dominated by long products, there is an increasing demand for flat products.

Steel capacity expansion

Sources told SteelMint that the projected expansion in steel capacity in Bangladesh till 2025-2026 is around 4 mnt driven by infra spending. Capacity will increase from 8 mnt to 13 mnt in the next three-four years. The new capacities will largely be through the EAF route.