Baosteel Group Corp. signed an agreement with Hangzhou Iron & Steel Group Co. to restructure Ningbo Iron & Steel Co. in an effort to optimize China’s domestic steel industry. Ningbo, which is located near one of the top 10 deepwater ports in the world, was formally founded in July 2006, and its first blast furnace was put into production in May 2007. With an annual steel production capacity of 4 million tons, it has planned hot-rolled sheets, cold-rolled sheets and galvanized sheets as its main products. According to the agreement, Baosteel will hold a 56.15% stake and Hangzhou will hold a 43.85% stake in Ningbo.
Baosteel will lend support to Ningbo in terms of management, technologies, raw-materials purchase and sales. The agreement hopes to have an influence on strengthening and growing Ningbo as well as driving development of the steel industry in east China, promoting cross-regional consolidation of steelmakers in China and elevating the general competitiveness of Chinese steelmakers.