The junta’s industry minister, Charlie Than, attended the 13th Industrial Trade Fair in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on Monday where he told a discussion on steel production that Myanmar is attempting to increase domestic production of iron and steel with support from Russia.
The fair, which drew ministers from Russia, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia.
The regime has been calling since the coup for the reopening of the Russia-backed No. 2 Steel Plant (Pinpet) in Shan State, which was halted in 2017 under the civilian government due to financial concerns. Local communities also opposed the project for environmental reasons.
Both junta boss Min Aung Hlaing and Charlie Than have visited the plant frequently and pushed for it to resume production as soon as possible.
Observers say the junta’s demand for iron and steel is driven by its need to manufacture weapons as it fights a multi-front war across the country.
The steel plant, located near the Shan State capital Taunggyi, is a joint iron exploitation and processing project between the military-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation and the regime’s major arms supplier Rostec, a Russian state corporation.
“I found that the project does not produce much steel though it is called a steel project. We don’t know what it produces. Security is very tight there, and we can hardly know what is happening inside,” Khun Oo director of a local Pa-O Youth Organization told The Irrawaddy in 2022.
In December, a Tyazhpromexport (Foreign Economic Association of Russia) delegation met Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw and discussed technical cooperation for the development of iron and steel production in Myanmar.
Min Aung Hlaing has lamented that Myanmar has to spend large sums of US dollars to import enough iron and steel to meet the annual demand of about two million tons. The Myanmar Iron and Steel Association has said that domestic production can only satisfy eight percent of domestic demand.
Charlie Than is also calling for production to resume at No.1 Steel Mill in Mandalay’s Myingyan Township. Last week, he attended the China-Asean Forum on Emerging Industry in Shenzhen, China.
