Huta Sendzimira investment plan could be worse than a waste of good money

The Polish Steel Mills (PHS) project of upgrading the rolling mill in Huta Sendzimira (HTS) may result in losses of zl. 800 million and could lead to the bankruptcy of the whole steel industry, warns a report written by professors from the Gliwice Polytechnic (PG). The modernization plan envisages introducing a new rolling plates production system which is already obsolete and is no longer used by the leading steel producers. "This old technology distorts the steel and its homogenous qualities," reads the report. However, despite these warnings the contract is still going ahead, albeit under slightly different terms, with the Austrian based Boest-Alpine company. The HTS rolling mill, to increase its effectiveness, will use raw steel from the Huta Katowice steel mill, which in turn will produce only semi-finished products. The State Treasury will grant 50% guarantees for the investment, although banks are only willing to issue loans for the project if the state guarantees 60% of the credits. An alternative and cheaper solution would be to complete the investments at the Katowice mill and construct a new integrated rolling and foundry shop in Huta Katowice and then use the remaining funds to modernize HTS. (Prawo i Gospodarka, pp. 1, 4) M.T.