China's Shougang on target to close down all steel mills in Beijing by 2010

China's Shougang on target to close down all steel mills in Beijing by 2010

	Published : Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:30 By : Agencies Print this Story

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's Shougang Group is on pace to close down all of its steel mills in Beijing within three years in an ongoing drive to clean up the air in the country's capital, said a company official.

'Shougang's current eight mln tons per year in Beijing will be cut to four mln by the end of this year, and all steel making (by Shougang) in Beijing will be finished by 2010,' said Mao Wu, chief economist of the group.

Speaking at an industry conference here at the weekend, he said the company's plan to remove all steel production from Beijing to Caofeidian on the coast of northern Hebei province was also proceeding.

'Our joint venture with Tangshan (Iron & Steel Co Ltd) at Caofeidian is now under construction and will enter full operations in 2010,' he said.

Mao said Shougang would benefit from the more efficient, less wasteful production practices at the new giant industrial complex.

'At Caofeidian, for each ton of steel, 669 kg of coal and 3.84 cubic meters of water will be consumed, with a water recycling rate of 97.5 pct. And our reuse of iron-containing dusts will give us 500,000 tons of (extra) iron ore per year. This brings considerable economic benefits,' he said, without offering comparative figures for existing Shougang plants.

Mao said that for China's steel sector as a whole, energy consumed in the production of each ton of steel was 10-15 pct more than in 'advanced countries.'

The Chinese government has targeted Shougang as one of the heavy polluting firms in the capital that must shut down prior to the city's hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Shougang Group is parent of Beijing Shougang Co Ltd (SZA 000959).

andrew.pasek@xinhuafinance.com

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