WISCO appeals for official approval of Fangcheng Port steel base project

Hubei Province-based Chinese steelmaker Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp. (WISCO) has appealed to the Chinese government to approve its Fangcheng Port steel base construction project in Guangxi Province and also to approve its restructuring project for Kunming Iron and Steel.
 
The Fangcheng Port steel production base project is the basis for WISCO's reorganization of Liuzhou Steel. According to the plan agreed by WISCO and Guangxi Province's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the total production capacity of the planned Fangcheng Port steel base, including all three phases, will be 30 million mt of crude steel with a total investment of RMB 204.9 billion ($31.2 billion). The production capacity of the first phase will be 10 million mt of crude steel, with an investment of RMB 68.6 billion ($10.4 billion).
 
It is five years since WISCO reorganized Liuzhou Steel, while the construction of Fangcheng Port steel base has been ongoing for several years now. However, the project has still not received official approval from the Chinese authorities.
 
Meanwhile, in August 2007 WISCO acquired 48.41 percent of shares in Kunming Iron and Steel, becoming its largest shareholder. WISCO was expected to carry out structural adjustment of production and capacity upgrades after the reorganization. The relevant work commenced on December 25, 2009, but official approval has not been received yet.