China’s Baowu to move some iron, steelmaking capacity to middle and southern regions

Construction workers in Beijing. Image by Loic.Hofstedt via Flickr.

BEIJING, July 4 (Reuters) – China’s top steel maker China Baowu Steel Group will move 4.03 million tonnes of iron-making capacity and 4.55 million tonnes of steelmaking capacity to middle and southern provinces from eastern regions of Shanghai and Jiangsu

Move is in line with Beijing’s push to relocate heavy industries from polluted and crowded regions to places with less environmental pressure

Some blast furnaces and converters will be demolished at Baowu’s Shanghai Meishan Iron & Steel Co and Baosteel Stainless Steel Co, according to a statement from the company

New capacity will be launched at Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron & Steel in Guangdong province, Echeng Iron & Steel at Hubei province and Baosteel Desheng Stainless Steel in Fujian province

Baowu Steel Group, merged between Baosteel Group and Wuhan Iron & Steel Group, produced 65.39 million tonnes of crude steel in 2017 (Reporting by Muyu Xu and Josephine Mason; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)