Angang to complete commissioning of CR plate project at end of 2012

Liaoning Province-based Chinese steel producer Anshan Iron and Steel Group (Angang) has stated that it expects to complete commissioning of its overall cold rolled (CR) steel plate project in Fujian at the end of the current year. The project, which broke ground in February 2010 in Putian, Fujian Province, includes construction of a 1 million mt capacity 1,450 mm cold rolling production line, as well as construction of pickling facilities, a continuous annealing line, hot dip galvanizing (HDG) facilities and related equipment. The project will mainly produce cold rolled plate and galvanized plate for home appliance and automotive applications. Last September, a test run was carried out on the pickling facilities, while in December the continuous annealing line was commissioned. The project is expected to produce 400,000 mt of cold rolled plate each year, with an estimated value of RMB 2.0-2.8 billion ($317-444 million).