Construction to start on Baosteel steel project at Zhanjiang

According to Ruan Risheng, mayor of the city of Zhanjiang in China's Guangdong Province, Chinese steel giant Baosteel's planned steel production project at Zhanjiang will start formal construction in the first half of 2011. The project, the total investment in which is expected to be RMB 53 billion ($8 billion), will include the elimination of 15 million mt of outdated steel capacity, as well as the construction of related infrastructure. Construction is expected to be completed in 2015. So far, RMB 5.4 billion ($814 million) has been invested in the project, while another RMB 1.7 billion ($256 million) will be invested in the remainder of 2011.
 
Mayor Ruan said that the equivalent of around 50 million mt of crude steel is consumed each year in Guangdong Province, which is a key province for steel consumption in China, while over half of the steel consumption in the province is dependent on supplies from other provinces in China or on imports. Thus, the construction of the Zhanjiang project will improve this situation.