Pakistan Steel Mills

Pakistan Steel Mill Corporation Pvt. Ltd.
Native name
پاکستان سٹیل ملز
Company typeState-owned enterprise
IndustrySteel
PredecessorKarachi Steel Projects
Founded30 December 1973 (50 years ago) (1973-12-30)[1]
Headquarters
Karachi-75000
,
Pakistan
Area served
Pakistan
OwnerGovernment of Pakistan
Number of employees
9,350 (2020)
Websitewww.paksteel.com.pk

The Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation,[2][3] colloquially referred to as Pak Steels, is a Pakistani state-owned company that produces long-rolled steel and heavy metal products in the country.[4]

Headquartered in Karachi, Sindh, the PSMC is currently the largest industrial mega-corporation in Pakistan, having a production capacity of 1.1–5.0 million tonnes[5] of steel and iron foundries.[4] Built with extensive contributions and from the Soviet Union in the 1970s, it is among the largest industrial mega-corporation complexes,[6] vastly expanded in an enormous dimension with construction inputs involving the use of 1.29 million cubic meters of concrete and 5.70 million cubic meters of earthworks, as well as containing approximately 330,000 tonnes of heavy machinery, steel structures and electrical equipment.[4]

A controversial attempt was made to privatize the steel mills to global private ownership under the counter-measure Privatization Programme of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.[7] However, these efforts were thwarted by the Supreme Court in Islamabad.[8] In spite of its enormous size and expansion, only 18% of the corporation's capacity was in use, which prompted the PSMC to request a bailout plan of ₨. 12 billion to prevent its closure;[9] the bailout plan was dismissed by the Government of Pakistan.[10] Finally, the steel mills was brought back to government ownership and management under an inverse counter-measure Nationalization Programme[11] of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani. Since then, its operational plant capacity has reached 30%–50[8]% after seeking the government's financial assistance. One of the key reasons for PSM's downfall is widespread corruption after 2008 in management and CBA leaders, political recruitments, awarding of promotions and major posts on the basis of favoritism .[11]

On July 4, 2023, the Government of Pakistan announced that it decided to shut down the Steel Mills as there was no available buyer due to the heavy losses it had been incurring for years.[12]

  1. ^ "::PAKISTAN STEEL ::Largest Industrial Complex of Pakistan ::". www.paksteel.com.pk.
  2. ^ "PAKISTAN STEEL MILLS CORPORATION (PVT.) LIMITED". OpenCorporates. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (PVT) LTD.: Private Company Information". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Press Release. "History of Pakistan Steel Mills". History of Pakistan Steel Mills.
  5. ^ Karachi Stock Exchange. (29 April 2009). "Pakistan Steel Mill production capacity to enhance up to 5M Tons". Karachi Stock Exchange. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  6. ^ Khan, A.A. "Pakistan Steel" (PDF). Pakistan Stee Mills. Pakistan Stee Mill Directorate for Public Relations and Human Resources. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Malcolm Borthwick, BBC Pakistan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Supreme Court of Pakistan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Kiani, Khaleeq. "Pakistan Steel in dire straits; liability Rs110bn." DAWN Media Group, 19 September 2011.
  10. ^ Khan, Israr (12 April 2012). "Pakistan Steel Mills denied Rs9bn bailout package". The News international. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  11. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference The Tribune Express, Iftikhar Firdous was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Nizami, Shoaib (3 July 2024). "Federal government decides to shut down Pakistan Steel Mills". ARY NEWS. Retrieved 4 July 2024.