Major Chinese steelmakers Baowu Group and Anhui Province-based Masteel Group have held a signing ceremony on September 19 for a restructuring implementation agreement. Baowu Group’s crude steel production output will amount to 87.0 million mt after the merger, second only to the world’s largest iron and steel group ArcelorMittal’s 92.5 million mt.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis in June, Masteel Group has announced that State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of Anhui Province signed an agreement for the free transfer of 51 percent equity in Masteel Group to Baowu Group. Previously, 100 percent equity of Masteel Group was held by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Anhui Province. After the transfer, Baowu Group will hold 51 percent equity in Masteel Group, while Anhui SASAC will hold the remaining 49 percent.
In 2018, Masteel Group had total assets worth RMB 97.004 billion and a crude steel output of 19.64 million mt, an operating revenue of RMB 91.8 billion, and a total profit of RMB 8.945 billion.
Baowu Group was formed by the merger of Baosteel Group and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group on December 1 2016, with an overall production capacity of 70.0 million mt. Baowu Group is a state-owned capital investment corporation. In 2018, it had total assets worth RMB 711.8 billion, a crude steel output of 67.25 million mt, an operating revenue of RMB 438.6 billion and a total profit of RMB 33.84 billion.
