Mittal for guarantees on iron ore supply

As the Jharkhand government weighs options for signing an agreement with Mittal Steel has said it wanted firm “guarantees” on iron ore supply before it commits to setting up a steel plant here.

“It would be totally unrealistic to embark on acquiring or building a steel manufacturing facility without first ensuring that we have the required raw material input (iron ore) necessary to operate the plant,” Mittal Steel President and cfo Aditya Mittal said. ‘‘Before committing in Jharkhand, this is a matter we need guarantees on,” he said.

Mittal said in an e-mail reply that, “A large proportion of the iron ore we acquire would be used as raw material for the steel plant we would be building.”