Shanghai, China, 7 Aug – JFE Holding of Japan and Guangzhou Iron and Steel Enterprises are investing 6.3 billion yuan (US$ 833 million) to build a steel plant in southern China, media have reported.

Shanghai Securities News said at the weekend that the new steelworks, which will take 30 months to build, is aimed to respond to rising demand from automakers and the construction sector in Southeast Asia.

Japan’s second-largest steelmaker and its Chinese partner will build a plant with an annual production capacity of 1.8 million tons of steel plate per year in the city of Guangzhou.

China’s Guangdong province consumes around 10 million tons of steel plate annually, a half of this being exported and the other half being bought by manufacturing industry in other parts of China.

Shanghai Securities News reported that steel consumption in Guangdong is expected to reach 14 million tons per year by 2010. (macauhub)