Chinese steelmaker Pangang Group, which located in Panzhihua, province of Sichuan, is set to be merged with two northeastern Chinese companies, Angang Steel Company and Benxi Iron and Steel (Group) Co., forming a new group called Anshan Steel (Group) Corporation.
An insider at Angang Steel stated, "Angang Steel and Benxi Iron and Steel were merged to form Anben Steel Group previously; now this is to join with Pangang Group to form a larger group called Anshan Steel (Group) Corporation."
The insider in question has revealed that government leaders have exchanged ideas with Angang Steel general manager Zhang Xiaogang regarding the merger plan. Angang and Benxi consider that Pangang Group's advantage lies in vanadium and titanium resource utilization and in strategic control over resources in the western area of Panzhihua city. The locally produced vanadium and titanium ore has a low cost.
The insider says that the merger plan has been referred to the relevant national authorities. According to information received, Zhang Xiaogang will be appointed as board chairman of the newly formed group.
Currently, Angang Steel has a steel capacity of 25 million mt, Benxi Iron and Steel has a capacity of 11 million mt, while Pangang Group's capacity is 10 million mt. After the merger, the new group's total capacity would reach 45 million mt, exceeding the 40.2 million mt capacity of Hebei Iron and Steel Group and the 38.87 million mt capacity of Baosteel Group, to rank first in terms of steel capacity in China.