Following the opposition recently expressed in the US to Chinese steel producer Anshan Iron and Steel's (Angang) plans to invest in a rebar facility in Amory, Mississippi, Angang's US partner Steel Development Co. has stated that the investment will not harm US security, stressing that it will not abandon its plans to cooperate with Angang.
Regarding the investment plan, Steel Development Co. stated that in the joint venture facility in Amory, Mississippi less than 20 percent of the total investment was from Angang.
Since the new facility will produce less than three-tenths of one percent of the total US market demand for concrete reinforcing steel bars, "the promotion of national security fears due to the Anshan investment is, at best, difficult to rationalize," the US company said in a statement.
Steel Development Co. added that, although it is facing pressure from certain senators and US steelmakers trying to hamper competition, it will not give up the project.
As reported by SteelOrbis, on Friday, July 2, a group of US lawmakers sent a letter to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, asking for an investigation as to whether the investment should be blocked, citing concerns over national security. The American Iron and Steel Institute has since come out in support of the letter sent by the lawmakers. Angang, on the other hand, has stressed that its investment plans are of a strictly commercial nature, while the China Iron and Steel Association has said that intervention by the US government against Angang's planned investment would constitute protectionism.