Amreli to increase capacity

KARACHI: The board of Amreli Steels Ltd has finalised the expansion and modernisation of its existing rolling mill with an investment of Rs2 billion. The project would raise the capacity of the existing plant at Karachi from 180,000 to 275,000 tonnes per annum, the company said in a filing with the stock exchange on Tuesday.

“The modernisation will result in savings on account of lower cost utility, wastage and maintenance,” the company stated, adding that a shutdown of the plant would be imperative for a period of at least 10 months, expected from June 2019 to March 2020.

“The revamped plant will resume production of rebars by the end of April 2020, barring any unforeseen circumstances,” the management said. — Equities Correspondent

Sabic secures $3bn syndicated loan

RIYADH: Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) has recently secured a $3 billion bridge loan, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. The facility was raised to meet Sabic’s ongoing financial requirements, one of the sources said.

The sources declined to give further details on the lenders or the tenor of the loan and asked not to be identified because the matter is not yet public.

In January, Sabic bought a 25 per cent stake in speciality chemicals group Clariant ending the Swiss company’s fight with activist investors.

CEO Yousef al-Benyan said then that Sabic could self-finance the Clariant stake acquisition, but did not rule out the possibility of inviting banks to part-finance the deal.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2018