Baotou Steel breaks production records in 2006

SteelOrbis Shanghai According to its annual output figures for 2006, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region-based Baotou Steel broke its historical production records during the year. The mill produced 7.3803 million mt of iron, 7.4845 million mt of crude steel, and 7.0636 million mt of semi-finished products, up 7.71 percent, 6.69 percent and 6.26 percent year on year respectively. Meanwhile, Baotou Steel's sales revenues are expected to reach RMB 27 billion ($3.46 billion) for 2006. With the mill's exports totaling 725,200 mt in 2006, export sales amounted to $330 million for the year. Along with its increased production output, Baotou Steel has also made advances in product quality. Its steel rail for high speed train systems has passed the technical examination of China's Railway Ministry. Furthermore, Baotou Steel's N80Q oil casing has been approved for use in domestic oil fields. With investments totaling RMB 5.3 billion ($680 million) in 2006, Baotou Steel now possesses an annual production capacity of 10 million mt of iron.