More mergers ahead for Chinese steel industry
Luo Bingsheng, Vice President of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), said that in addition to the recent merger of Anshan and Benxi in Northeast China, there are other restructuring projects on the horizon. Speaking at the inauguration of Anben Iron and Steel Group (ABIS), the new company formed from the merger of Anshan Iron & Steel Group and Benxi Iron & Steel Group, Luo Bingsheng indicated that China's largest steelmaker, Baoshan Iron & Steel Company, is looking to make acquisitions in eastern and southern China. Some of the other major steel industry projects include the merger of Capital Iron & Steel Company and Tangshan Iron & Steel Company in northern China and the restructuring of Wuhan Iron & Steel Company in southern and southwestern China. The latter project also includes Wuhan Iron & Steel Company's acquisition of the Liuzhou Iron & Steel Group. According to the statistics from CISA, 68 large and medium Chinese steelmakers made a collective RMB 49.23 billion ($6.1 billion) profit through the first six months of the year. China's top ten steelmakers accounted for 68 percent of the aforementioned profit. Beijing intends to have the top ten steelmakers account for 50 percent of the country's production by 2010 and 70 percent of production by 2020.