A N20bn steel rolling mill is to be established soon in Abese, near Ewekoro, Ogun State.
The mill, with a daily production capacity for 1,250 tonnes of iron rod, flat and angle bars, will be another production outfit of BSS Industries Limited, a top pressure and waste pipe manufacturing company in Abule-Egba, Lagos.

A statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by the company‘ s Chairman, Chief Ayoola Abioye, said that the rolling mill would commence production in 18 months. Abioye, who is also the Chairman, Ayoola Group of Companies, said that his companies and some foreign technical partners would jointly finance the project.
He said that that negotiation had been concluded for the importation of machineries for the steel rolling mill, which he said, would provide direct employment to about 500 persons and create more than 3,000 indirect jobs.

The chairman said that his over two-decades experience in iron rod importation and merchandising showed there was still a wide gap in the nation’s iron and steel industry. Abioye said that there was the need for government to encourage local production of iron rods in order to arrest its escalating prices, which he noted, had increased more than 800 per cent in the last decade in Nigeria.
He said that to ensure full capacity utilisation when operational, the company planned to establish an independent power plant that could generate 50 megawatts of electricity, far in excess of its energy requirement.

The chairman said that the factory site was strategically located near existing gas supply pipe network, while talks were also going on with the Nigerian Gas Company for technical support.
He appealed to the Federal Government to step up its efforts in guaranteeing uninterrupted electricity supply in the country.

The industrialist said that the goal of making Nigeria one of the world‘s top 20 industrial nations by year 2020 would remain a dream without adequate energy supply for the country‘s economic activities.