Plans for an expansion project at Pakistan Steel are being evaluated by the Production Ministry. A decision whether to proceed with the project is expected in early January.

Pakistan Steel proposes to increase its output to 3 million tonnes a year (t/y) from 1.1 million t/y. The estimated project cost is $1,200 million with a completion period of three to four years. The feasibility study was completed by Japan's Nippon Steel. An earlier study, conducted by the UK's WS Atkins, projected that local steel consumption would rise to approximately 4 million t/y by 2000.

Pakistan Steel will part-finance the project with Rs 2,000 million ($65.3 million) from its reserves. It will also consider holding a public share offer to raise further capital. The Russian and Chinese governments have expressed interest in making contributions of $95 million and $250 million respectively.