As stated by Zhang Xiaogang, general manager of Chinese steelmaker Ansteel Group, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of China's State Council (SASAC) has established a working group to push forward the merger between Ansteel and its fellow Liaoning-based steel producer Benxi Steel. The merger is expected to result in the formation of China's largest steel producing enterprise.
At the end of May 2010, Ansteel was given the go-ahead to restructure Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group, based in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan. The respective production capacities of the two companies at the time was 25 million mt and 10 million mt. With their combined output, Ansteel became the third largest steel enterprise in China after Hebei Iron and Steel Group and Baosteel.
In early June last year, the authorities in Liaoning Province gave the green light to the merger of Benxi Steel and Beitai Steel. Following the merger, the new company is expected to have an annual production capacity of 20 million mt.
Ansteel Group is one of several large state-owned steel enterprises entrusted with the task of bringing 60 percent of China's total steel output capacity under the control of its top 10 producers by the end of 2015.