(Adds details, background)
BENGALURU, March 28 (Reuters) - India's Jindal Stainless
Ltd on Tuesday said it would acquire a 49% stake in
Indonesia-based New Yaking Pte. Ltd for $157 million as it seeks
to secure a supply of nickel, a key ingredient in the production
of stainless steel.
The deal includes the construction and operation of a nickel
pig iron facility in Indonesia's Halmahera Islands. The plant
will be commissioned within two years and will have an annual
nameplate production capacity of up to 200,000 metric tonnes,
the company said in a statement.
For the company's annual stainless steel production of
2.9 million tonnes, the total requirement of nickel is 125,000
tonnes, of which 15%-16% is sourced through nickel pig iron.
Following this acquisition, the company expects to fully meet
its nickel pig iron needs.
The investment from India's biggest stainless steel
manufacturer comes at a time when India is deficient in nickel
ore, it said.
Nickel prices had
slumped
28% over about seven weeks, weighed down by concern about
weak demand and rising output in major nickel ore producer
Indonesia, before rebounding last week.
Abhyuday Jindal, managing director, told Reuters in an
interview last month he expects the firm's exports to jump to
25%-30% of overall sales in the next fiscal year beginning
April, from an estimated 12% in the current year.
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; editing by Eileen
Soreng)
