Posted on 12 Mar 2009
Shougang to Invest Up to $1 Billion in Peru Ore Mine
Shougang Corp. will invest $700 million to $1 billion to expand an iron ore mine in Peru, Chairman Zhu Jimin said in Beijing today.
The company, China’s eighth-largest steelmaker, will need to upgrade facilities in the Peru mine, which will help meet the increasing demand for iron ore, he said on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress. There are still issues of access to power and natural gas supplies that need to be resolved at the mine, Zhu said.
Construction of Shougang’s 10-million-ton a year plant in Caofeidian, Hebei province, will be completed next year and the factory will make high-end products including oil pipes and ship plates, he said.
“The economic recession will hurt the profitability at the Caofeidian steel plant,” Zhu said.
China, the world’s biggest metal user, has agreed to acquire $22 billion worth of commodity assets this year after a 70 percent drop in metals and oil prices since July ended a six- year boom in raw materials. Wuhan Iron & Steel Group and Jiangsu Shagang Group Co., China’s third- and fifth-largest steelmakers, are looking for iron ore mining stakes in Australia and Brazil.
Shougang Corp. had profit of 4.49 billion yuan on sales of 132 billion yuan ($19 billion) in 2008, the company announced at a press conference today.
