The recently established Chinese steelmaker Shaanxi Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. (Shaanxi Steel) is scheduled to acquire Longmen Steel and Hanjiang Steel, thereby finally achieving a production capacity of over 10 million mt. The above mergers will be accomplished by the end of 2009.
Meanwhile, other steel industry consolidations have been completed or are also underway in several other provinces in China:
Hebei Steel Group
On June 30, 2008, Hebei Iron & Steel Group Co. Ltd was formed through a merger of Tangshan Steel Group and Handan Steel Group. In 2008, the new steel group's steel production totaled 33 million mt, ranking second in the country.
Shandong Steel Group
On March 26, 2008, Shandong Steel Group was officially launched via the combination of Jinan Steel and Laiwu Steel. This steel group has just finished the acquisition of Rizhao Steel.
Tianjin Steel Group
The Tianjin State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission is working on the consolidation of four Tianjin-based state-owned steel mills, with the intention of establishing a new steel group which will control the four mills in question, i.e., Tiantie Group, Tiangang Group, Tianjin Steel Pipe Group, and Tianjin Metallurgical Group.