Taiwanese Kao Hsing Chang moving its pipe line to China
Kao Hsing Chang Iron and Steel Corp. (Kao Hsing Chang) reported that they decided to relocate the steel
pipe plant which has an annual capacity of 150'000 tons to mainland
China in order to avoid the adverse effects of the downward trend of steel
pipe market in
Taiwan and get advantage of the West East Pipeline (WEP) Project in
China as it will require large diameter
pipe purchases in huge quantities.
Kao Hsing Chang, to invest $20 million for the first stage is planning to allocate $100 million in total for the relocation of
pipe line to Jiangsu province and its expansion plan. The company will establish this new plant by a joint venture with the largest state-owned oil company in
China named
China National Petroleum Corp. and will hold 95% of the shares.
Company officials state that the plan can be delayed until the SARS disease is taken under control. It is also reported that
production which was initially scheduled to start in August will be launched until end of this year.