Shanghai Baosteel Group (Baosteel) has attempted to cool rumours of possible shutdown of the Zhanjiang project.
Sheng Genghong, general manager of the Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron and Steel Corp said “The principal part of the project aims to start construction this year and the first cold rolling and hot rolling production lines are expected to come on stream in 2015.”
Supporting parts of the site such as office buildings, apartments and sports venues had already started construction.
In April 2011, Baoateel said that given the long construction period, huge investment and long time to gain a return, it gave up the right of priority to invest in the project, but it reserved the right to buy the project at a later time in the future.
The project, with a constructing period of over three years, requires a total investment of RMB 69.68bn (US$10.99bn) according to a notice released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
In a related development, the China Development Bank (CDB) on August 3 signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement with Baosteel Group, under which the bank will grant US$20bn in additional credits for such projects.
Source: China Metals e-mail infochn@public.bta.net.cn
