On November 4, Liaoning Province-based Chinese steelmaker Angang Steel revealed that a key project of the company for a new 1,450 mm automotive plate production line will start production in the district of Bayuquan in Liaoning in 2013. The factory building for the 1,450 mm plate production line is currently under construction.
Domestic steel producers Baosteel, Wuhan Iron and Steel (WISCO) and Hebei Iron and Steel Group are all among Angang Steel's competitors in the high-end automotive plate market in China.
Angang Steel stated that it has established partnerships with many carmakers and set up research laboratories with both universities and carmakers. It has also established a joint venture - ANSC-TKS Galvanizing Co. in Dalian, Liaoning - with auto plate leader ThyssenKrupp Steel, thus establishing two galvanized auto plate production lines which supply premium plate to BMW Shenyang and FAW Mazda Motor. It has also signed contracts with Volkswagen and General Motors in Shanghai for the supply cold rolled automotive plates.