National Steel Complex Limited Karachi steel plant (حديد الطويرقي), also known as Tuwairqi Steel Mills Ltd (TSML) (formerly), is a steel plant in Karachi, Bin Qasim, Sindh, Pakistan that operates electric arc furnace (EAF) and direct reduced iron (DRI) technology.
The plant operates a 38MW combined cycle power (CPP) plant with four 6.5MW gas turbines.[1] The steel plant was a joint venture between Al Tuwairqi Holding of Saudi Arabia and POSCO of South Korea.[2] The plant has the capacity to produce 1.28 mtpa of DRI.[2] Phase-I of the DRI plant was completed at a cost of $340 million while fate of phase-II and phase-III were contingent on the commercial success of the DRI plant.[3] The plant was inaugurated in January 2013,[4] but was idled in September 2013 owing to gas tariff issues and the government of Pakistan not granting a concessionary gas tariff.[5][3] In between the plant had produced and sold 60,300 tons of DRI mostly in the domestic market, but sustained an operational loss of $18.6 million in 2013.[6] All through the past 10 years, a small core team led by Zaigham Adil Rizvi managed preventive maintenance/cold commissioning as per standard operating procedures to keep the plant in fit-to-run condition.[7]
A US-based Ciena Group acquired the plant in April 2022, renaming it National Steel Complex Limited (NSCL).[3][8] The possibility of using hydrogen or coal-based syngas is being explored to restart the plant.[9] In September 2023, Ciena Group began introducing backward integration by securing iron ore mining leasing rights in Pakistan. NSCL’s subsidiary, Alhadeed Paletisation Company, has entered sub-lease agreements with multiple private leaseholders in iron ore-rich areas in Balochistan, specifically Mashkichah in Nokundi district. The company has outlined a strategy for mechanised mining and dry beneficiation at the mining sites. Additionally, they have planned to establish a wet beneficiation and palletisation plant on NSCL-owned land in Port Qasim.[10] In June 2024, a US envoy visited the plant reiterating the US government’s unwavering support for revival of the industrial sector of Pakistan especially in the steel sector.[11]
As of December 2025, the plant has not re-commenced operations.
% pig iron (unknown if basic/merchant or granulated)
% other iron
unknown EAF (1)
None
unknown
unknown
unknown
unknown
unknown
unknown
unknown
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Articles and Resources
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of steel plants, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Iron and Steel Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
References
↑Energy, Tuwairqi Steel Mills Limited, Retrieved on: Sep. 14, 2020
