On August 17, Chinese steelmaker Xinxing Pipes Group held a ceremony to mark the start of the construction of its engineering materials production base located in the city of Fuyun in the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang.
Xinxing Pipes Group is a Chinese state-owned company directly supervised by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the country's State Council. It is China's largest and the world second largest ductile iron pipe producer, and is also China's largest steel grating producer.
According to Xinxing Pipes Group chairman Liu Mingzhong, the total investment in the company's new engineering materials production base will reach RMB 16.1 billion ($2.378 billion), with phase 1 investment amounting to RMB 5.2 billion ($0.768 billion). In phase 1, a 3 million mt billet production project will be completed within three to four years, and engineering materials technology and production will be developed. After the completion of the phase 1 project, a sales volume worth RMB 12 billion ($1.77 billion) is expected to be achieved, with 3,681 jobs created.
Phase 2 of the project is due to be completed by 2019, with targeted annual capacities including 1.5 million mt of special steel pipe, 1 million mt of stainless steel and 0.5 million mt of special steel. The sales volume after the completion of phase 2 is expected to reach RMB 30 billion ($4.43 billion), with 5,000 people employed.
(US$1 = RMB 6.77)