Quebec to invest $133 m in Tata Steel’s iron ore project

The Dollar Business Bureau

Tata Steel said on Wednesday that the government of Quebec will do an investment of 175 million Canadian dollars (around $133 million) in its joint venture company's project of direct shipping iron ore (DSO project).

Tata Steel Minerals Canada (TSMC) is a joint venture between the Indian company and New Millennium Iron Corp, created in October 2010. Tata Steel has a majority stake of 94 percent in the joint venture.

“Quebec's Deputy Premier Lise Theriault announced the award of a government financial contribution of Canadian $175 million to TSMC to support achievement at Schefferville of a DSO project,” Tata Steel said in a statement.

The Group has invested more than 1 billion Canadian dollars in the venture, it added.

“The financial support consists of equity share of 125 million Canadian dollars via Capital Mining Hydrocarbons Fund and a credit of 50 million Canadian dollars from Investissement Quebec, serving as an agent on behalf of the government,” the statement said.

TSMC is involved in developing DSO deposits situated in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. The company estimated a yearly production of more than 6 million tonnes of iron ore.

Koushik Chatterjee, ED (Finance & Corporate), Tata Steel Group said that this is a pressing times for the iron ore industry globally because of low underlying demand for steel, excess capacity in the steel sector and unstable fluctuations in foreign exchange.

The company will carry on to work in close association with the government of Quebec and other interested parties to do whatever it can to enhance the competitiveness of the iron ore business in Canada and to make the industry more sustainable for the coming times, he added.