ArcelorMittal opens maiden steel plant in China.

NRI billionaire Laxmi Mittal-led ArcelorMittal recently opened its first steel making facility in China through a joint venture, VAMA, aimed at catering to the local automotive market with $832 million investment.

Valin Arcelor Mittal Automotive Steel (VAMA) in which Chinese firm Hunan Iron and Steel Co also has stake, has an annual capacity of producing 1.5 million tonnes high-strength automotive steels. China imports such steel to meet domestic need, the world's largest steel maker said in a statement. 'VAMA will produce state-of-the-art grade steels for safe and cost-efficient light-weight design, superior surface quality and coating technology, helping to meet rapid growth in demand for advanced automotive steels in China,'it said.

'The annual production capacity will be 1.5 million tonnes, including 800,000 tonnes of cold rolled coils, 200,000 tonnes of aluminium-coated coils and 500,000 tonnes of hot-dip galvanised coils,' it added. International car makers such as Volkswagen, GM, Ford, Daimler-Benz, BMW, Honda Toyota, Honda, Renault, Fiat and Nissan have presence in China. Domestic manufacturers such as Geely, Chery, Dongfeng, Guangzhou Auto, Shanghai Auto and Changan are also to be targeted.


BS