Monday, March 2, 2009

Hunan Valin 'Will Buy Two Chinese Steelmakers' This Year

China's Hunan Valin Iron and Steel Group, the second-largest shareholder in Australian iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group, will acquire two Chinese steelmakers this year as part of the much-heralded consolidation of the Chinese steel indstry.

The state-owned parent of Hunan Valin Steel Co Ltd will buy a steel mill in central China's Henan province and another one in the eastern province of Jiangxi, the Hunan-based Xiaoxiang Morning Post quoted chairman Li Xiaowei as saying. although the newspaper did not identify the target companies or a timeframe.

"Many people suggested to me that we should suspend some projects during the crisis. We decided to not pause the plans, even for one day, after careful research," Li told the newspaper.

Valin Iron and Steel Group paid A$1.2 billion for a 16.5 percent stake in Fortescue, Australia's No. 3 iron ore miner, last month.

Chinese firms are being encouraged to buy natural resource assets abroad to secure supplies.

Valin was China's ninth-biggest producer of crude steel in 2008. China's steel sector is the world's biggest but is fragmented, and its largest mills are much smaller than those of the global market leaders.

Source: Alibaba News Channel

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