Three steelmakers to produce in China for car industry

Three steelmakers to produce in China for car industry

The joint venture among Chinese Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel), Japanese Nippon Steel and Luxembourg based Arcelor in Shanghai aims to meet the 50 percent of China's automotive steel demand by 2010. The three companies have spent RMB 3 billion ($370.7 million) for the joint venture 50 percent of which belongs to Baosteel, 38 percent to Nippon Steel and the rest to Arcelor. Total investment for the joint venture will exceed $800 million. The facilities will start operating in early 2006 and produce high-quality steel sheet for the assembly plants of automobile makers such as Honda Motor, Nissan Motor and Toyota Motor in Guangzhou province of southern China. Chinese steel mills cannot currently meet the standard requirements of carmakers, therefore the car industry in the country imports most of the steel they use from Japan.