June 21, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 20,1424

KARACHI, June 20: Federal Industries Minister Liaquat Ali Khan Jatoi said on Friday that Pakistan Steel (PS) would make a record profit of Rs1 billion this year.

He was talking to newsmen during the visit of Sindh Engineering Limited at West Wharf. He said Pakistan Steel would make record sales of Rs22 billion by end of this month. The minister pointed out that last year the PS earned a profit of Rs20 million.

He said Pakistan Steel was undergoing an expansion plan to increase its production from 1.1 million tons to 1.5 million by May 2004 with the technical collaboration of Russia.

Similarly, its production capacity would be enhanced from 1.5 to 3 million tons with Chinese technical support, he added.

He said presently Pakistan and China were working on the pricing of this technical collaboration.—APP