Ministry agrees to form coking coal giant around JSW

"The Treasury and Economy ministries decided that it is necessary to create a holding company," said Deputy Economy Minister Jacek Piechota yesterday, adding that this would ensure stable trade relationships and secure supplies of coking coal. All the plants which will make up the holding are in need of substantial investments. Their merger will ensure that the investments will be conducted in an orderly and complementary manner. On the other hand, all the companies are currently showing good results, thanks to high coal and coke prices. JSW is targeting a profit of zł.1.4 billion this year. The new holding company is estimated to have production capacity of 4 million tons of coke a year, while Indian steel giant LNM, the largest coke player in the country, produces slightly more than 5 million tons of coke annually. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) T.J.