china unveils plans for huge steel plant

CHINA has unveiled plans to build one of its largest steel plants at a cost of $US30 billion ($35.93 billion), state media reported.
The plant is to be located in Fangchenggang, a port city in Guangxi region in China's south, the Economic Information Daily said.

It will require a total investment of 204.9 billion yuan ($35.93 billion), the report said.

"The setup of the steel-making port base in Guangxi is expected to improve the efficiency of iron ore imports,'' Su Aik Lim, an analyst with Fitch Ratings in Beijing, told AFP.

It can reduce the transportation costs for steel products sold in China's central and western markets, given that the country's large steel makers now cluster in the north and east, he said.

The facility is the result of a joint venture between Wuhan Iron and Steel Group and the Guangxi regional administration's agency for the management of state assets, according to the paper.

The plant is expected to have an initial annual capacity of ten million tonnes, but that will eventually rise to 30 million tonnes a year, it said.

The Xinhua news agency said the first production line would become fully operational in 50 months, adding the plant was part of a major investment drive launched in 1999.

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24297744-31037,00.html

Plenty of demand from China for IO. I think I'll keep topping up at these stupid prices.