Industries Qatar’s affiliate Qatar Steel Company has signed an agreement with BHP Billiton Marketing Singapore to market more than 350,000 tonnes per year of hot briquetted iron. The marketing agreement will take effect next year and provide BHP Billiton with the exclusive rights to market Qasco HBI in some Asian markets.

A Qasco spokesman said here that HBI would be produced from its newly built 1.5 million tonnes per year DRI plant at Mesaieed from the first quarter of 2007.