Ansteel strikes merger deal

Chinese state-owned Ansteel in Liaoning Province has signed the most ambitious merger agreement ever in China's steel industry to integrate state-owned Beitai Steel (a 10 million tons steelmaker in Benxi, Liaoning) into a steel titan with a total capacity of more than 50 million tons, far in excess of Baosteel (30 million tons) as well as Hebei Steel (about 50 million tons).

Beitai Steel produces four million tons of hot rolled sheet and 3.5 million tons of wire rod per year with Beiying Steel (Group) in Benxi as its core assets. With construction steel as its main range of varieties, Beitai Steel, earned 759 million yuan last year, is supposed to well mingle with flat product-dominated Ansteel.

Among the major steelmakers in Liaoning are Ansteel, Benxi Steel, Beitai Steel, Dongbei Special Steel, Jilin Tonghua Steel and Lingyuan Steel. A source with Ansteel forecasts, all of these steelmakers, except Shougang-involved Tonghua Steel, will eventually become a part of the group. By then, Ansteel will have a capacity of over 65 million tons.