SteelOrbis Shanghai
Due to the continuous integration of mining resources in the northeastern Chinese province of Hebei, the number of mining enterprises in the province has fallen by 68 percent from the highest historical figure of around 20,000 to just 6,290. As a case in point: in the city of Zunhua located in Hebei Province, mining rights which were previously held by a total of 56 iron ore mines are now controlled by just 26 mines. Meanwhile, iron ore production in Zunhua has expanded to 2.315 million mt a year from an annual figure of 1.2668 million mt.
Since 2005, Hebei Province has been promoting the integration of mines by various means such as mergers, takeovers, share sales etc. So far, many major mining corporations such as Handan Mining Group and Fengfeng Group have inked integration-driven agreements with local governments or with some small-scale state-owned and village-owned mines.