Inauguration Pakistan Steel January 15, 1985

The commissioning of Pakistan\'s first integrated iron & steel plant marks the advent of a new era in the industrial development of the country. PAKISTAN STEEL is a venture of seminal importance, the first step towards providing a techno-economic base for the national economy.
It will provide the required impetus for developing the vital fields of engineering, capital goods and construction industries of the country.
THE PROJECT.
The project has been constructed with the financial and technical help of the USSR. Terms for financing this mammoth industrial undertaking were agreed upon on 30th December, 1974.
Ground was broken for levelling arid grading of site in early 1974. The construction of the Training Centre and the Construction Base, along with the first phase of Housing Colony also commenced in 1974. The actual construction activity on the Main Plant started in the first quarter of 1976.
Some of the ancillary units of the Main Plant e.g. Tonnage Oxygen Plant, Sea Water Pump House, etc. have been procured by Pakistan from countries other than USSR under its own arrangements.
The intricate civil, mechanical and electrical construction jobs at the Main Plant - of a magnitude never attempted before in the country - have been undertaken by Pakistani contractors which has gone a long way in the rapid up gradation of skills. Above all, the know-how and technology for Industrial Plant Construction and Installation has been truly imbibed.
Pakistani Engineering firms have also substantially participated in the fabrication of steel structures and non-standard equipment. The overall responsibility for project management has been borne by Pakistani Personnel.
TECHNOLOGY.
The process is based on the well established Blast Furnace - Linz Donawitz Converter route for iron and steel making respectively. The plant is equipped with advanced facilities for continuous casting of all its steel production. In order to meet the entire needs of the domestic market, the plant is designed to produce both flat and non-flat products.
Accordingly, one 800 MM Billet Mill, one 1700 MM semi-continuous Hot Strip Mill, one 1700 MM Reversing Cold Rolling Mill and one Hot-dip-Galvanising unit have been installed.
SCHEDULE OF COMPLETION.
The Project has been completed in two phases. In the first phase the Iron Making Plant with its first Blast Furnace for pig iron production was commissioned in 1981 and the Steel Making Plant and Billet Mill, in 1982. The commissioning of the flat-producing units i.e. Hot Strip Mill took place in 1983 and Cold Rolling Mill in 1984. This marks the completion of the second phase.
PAKISTAN STEEL has an initial production capacity of 1.1 million tonnes and a built-in potential to expand to over 2 million tonnes.
MANPOWER.
For the execution of the enormous civil and mechanical engineering woks involved in the construction of the steel works, a large work force of about 34, 000 was on the average deployed at the site, of which approximately half were directly engaged by PAKISTAN STEEL and the remaining by contractors. At the peak level of construction activity in 1981-82, the total number of personnel engaged at the Project touched the figure of 50,000. With the plant going into full operation, 15,000 persons of all categories would be directly engaged in the operation of the plant at optimum capacity.
Thousands of Pakistani managers, engineers and workers engaged on this gigantic project have displayed a high degree of motivation and remarkable aptitude in learning new technologies and undertaking complicated and complex assignments never handled in the country in the past. The Steel works is a living monument to the high quality of Pakistani worker and his immense sense of devotion to this national project. Pakistan Steel Project is of great national importance; its real value lies in building up the economic strength of the country, in substantial foreign exchange savings, in providing basic raw materials for metallurgical and engineering industries, in providing the vital stimulus for setting up of S modern, high value-added industries, in creating substantial job opportunities for skilled workers and engineers, in upgrading technology and in raising the standard of living of our people.
To commemorate the inauguration of PAKISTAN STEEL, Pakistan Post Office is issuing a set of two commemorative postage stamps of the values of 60 paisa and Re.1/- on 22 Rabi-us-Sani 1405 A.H. corresponding to 15th January, 1985.