On October 28, Hunan Province-based Chinese steel producer Xiangtan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd (Xiangtan Steel) launched production at its new wide and thick plate mill which produces steel plates in widths of up to five meters. The new mill is the fifth five meter plate mill in China and the first ever to be built in China's south central region.
The new mill, which has an annual production capacity of 2 million mt, increases Xiangtan Steel's annual plate output from 3 million mt to 5 million mt. Xiangtan Steel has two other plate mills which produce plates of up to 3.8 meters in width.
Xiangtan Steel is one of the biggest steel plate manufacturers in China in terms of annual output.