Sweden. SSAB AB

The 8-year-maturity loan totalling USD 85 million has been provided for SSAB's investment program aimed at directing the product portfolio more towards value added steel products, and meeting customers' growing demand for high strength steels.

At its plant in Borlänge, Sweden, SSAB will establish a quenching capacity to produce direct quenched strip steels. The expansion includes the construction of a new cut-to-length facility and cooling line. The extended plant is expected to supply the market with 300,000 tonnes of quenched strip steel products per year.

The main customers of quenched and tempered steels are within the manufacturing and construction sectors, including car and truck manufacturers, as well as manufacturers of components used for the production of wind power.

SSAB is a leading producer of high strength and quenched and tempered steels. The company has production plants in Sweden and the US.

The project's main environmental issue is that the use of cooling water will increase. SSAB has a closed cooling water cycle and the discharges of contaminants to the river will not increase. The

environmental impact that arises is a marginally increased water temperature in the returned river water. The environmental impact is insignificant.