FOCUS: China's Baowu Group eyeing 200mln tpy of steel capacity

China's Baowu Steel Group Corp, the world's largest steelmaker, will continue with its merger strategy over the next few years, which cound result in a increase in its steelmaking capacity to 200 million tonnes per year, the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) reported recently.

The steelmaker's capacity exceeded 100 million tpy in September when it merged with Chongqing Iron & Steel Co, making it a bigger producer than ArcelorMittal.
But Cisa says that "the mergers are far from reaching an end" since China will further consolidate its steel industry to increase its competitiveness in the global market.
Baowu had already had several negotiations with the steelmaker over a prospective merger, a source at a mill in eastern China told Fastmarkets.
Baowu itself was formed through a merger between Baosteel and Wuhan Iron & Steel in 2016. It then went on to merge with Ma'anshan Iron & Steel Co, Tisco Industrial Co and Chongqing Iron & Steel Co.

While the previous mergers have enriched Baowu's steel and iron ore businesses, the next merger will help Baowu perfect its logistics network with the global market and acquire more advanced equipment,...

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