BNamericas reported that officials from northeastern Brazil's Ceará state will hold a meeting to define a business plan for the Siderúrgica Latino Americana steel plant in partnership with Spanish steelmaker Hierros Añón.

Mr Alcântara Macedo board representative of Silat said that "We expect Ceará to hold a 10% stake in the new company, through the state's economic development agency Adece, with the remainder being owned by Añon."

According to Mr Macedo, the Ceará state investment should be in the form of financial capital in addition to tax benefits.

Mr Cláudio Frota investment director at Adece said that "Silat's business plan is still being formatted. The size of the stakes will depend on the project evaluation and its share price."

Mr Frota confirmed that Ceará's interest in the project, as the government sees it as an opportunity to implement a metal mechanics pole in the state.

Ceará state's initial investment in Silat is estimated as USD 120 million, with USD 68.1 million or 56.8% of the total to be financed by local bank Banco do Nordeste.

Añón started construction of Silat's long steel plant in July 2012. Ceará state was chosen due to the operational and geographical conditions of Pecém port.

The steel plant will have capacity of 2 million tonnes per annum and the project will be carried out in three stages.

Source - Business News Americas

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