Halla joins Aussie plant

SEOUL (UPI): South Korea's Halla Group and Resource Equities Ltd. of Australia have signed a deal to build a $800-million iron plant, a Halla spokesman said yesterday.

Construction is due to start by January 1998 in Perth in western Australia, due for completion by the year 2000, spokesman Kang Sang-yoon said.

The plant will produce two million tons of hot briquetted iron for use in steel plates for ships and automobiles, Kang said. Halla plans to invest $430 million in the joint venture which includes key production facilities and equipment, the spokesman said.