ISLAMABAD, Jan 9: The management of Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (PSMC) has decided to seek the cooperation of friendly countries to help revamp and expand the production capacity of the organisation.

Official sources told Dawn that consul generals and commercial counsellors of certain friendly countries based in Pakistan have been invited to visit the mills in Karachi on Wednesday to discuss the possibilities of cooperation and assistance.Pakistan Steel is the only engineering concern producing iron and steel in the country. Pakistan steel meet its requirements of major raw materials i.e. iron ore and coal imported from Australia, Canada, India and Iran.

For meeting its requirements of Ferro alloys, refractory items, rolls for its Rolling Mill and spare parts, Pakistan Steel has established multifarious techno-economic and commercial relations with a vast number of countries directly or indirectly", this was stated by Maj-Gen.(retd) Muhammad Javed, Chairman Pakistan Steel in a letter sent to the consul generals and commercial counsellors of various countries.

He said that Pakistan Steel was launching a comprehensive repair and maintenance programme of its critical units in the near future. For this purpose, renowned firms having experience of steel industry of friendly countries have been approached for participation in the tenders.

Sources said that the ministry of industries and production had given a go ahead to the management of the mills to undertake only the repair work for which Rs8 billion were already made available to the management.

However, since the Supreme Court has still to take up the review petition filed by the government about the privatisation of the mills, the government did not want the management of the mills to go for the complete revamping, a source said.

The ministry of industries and production, he said, has been informed that only the necessary repair work should be carried out in the mills to avoid any major breakdown.