Sirmium Steel smelter worth 40 million euros put in operation - Construction of 30 million euros worth of rolling mill in 2011

Sirmium Steel smelter, currently the largest greenfield investment in Sremska Mitrovica, was put in operation yesterday. Italian investor STG Group, a famous steel manufacturer that uses waste iron in the production, invested 40 million euros in the construction of that unit.

Sirmium Steel smelter will be processing iron as a secondary raw material, while the primary product portfolio will include steel beams that are used in construction. In the first phase, 200 people will get jobs at Sirmium Steel. That number will later grow by over 100 since the expansion of production capacities is in the pipeline.

Prime Minister of Vojvodina Bojan Pajtic pointed out that the putting of machines within Sirmium Steel plant in operation would continue the trend of unemployment rate reduction in Vojvodina.

- When compared to the last month, the unemployment rate in our province has dropped by nearly 1,000, while there are almost six thousand less unemployed people in comparison with September 2009, all that thanks to the employment programmes of the Government of Vojvodina, as well as owing to what local self-governments do to attract foreign investments - said Dr. Bojan Pajtic.

- This industry produces the type of steel pipes that will be necessary for the continuation of the investment cycle, the one that has not been seen in Vojvodina over the past 30 years, in the fields of health care, education, infrastructure - Prime Minister Pajtic concluded.

Sirmium Steel CEO Dario Bodino expressed the satisfaction with the implementation of that investment in Serbia and pointed out that they had a significant support from the local self-government and provincial administration. Bodini also announced a new investment in 2011 - the construction of a rolling mill within the Sirmium Steel complex, in which about 30 million euros will be invested.