Steel News Roundup

SHANGHAI, Feb 1 (SMM) — This is a roundup of news in the steel industry for last week.

Merger of Shandong Iron & Steel into Baowu Group entered a substantive stage

The merger of Shandong Iron and Steel Group into Baowu Group has entered a substantive stage, and it is expected that there may be official news after CNY. The merger of Shandong Iron & Steel Group will lay a solid foundation for Baowu Group's capacity expansion in the north. At the same time, the incorporation of Shandong Iron & Steel Group's Yongfeng Iron and Steel and other subsidiaries will also enrich Baowu Group's product structure and promote mixed enterprise reform.

The steel plants owned by Shandong Iron & Steel Group include the Rizhao base of Shandong Iron and Steel, Laiwu Steel, Yongfeng Zibo, Yongfeng Iron and Steel, Jiangsu Huaigang,.with a total pig iron capacity of 29.31 million mt.

Environmental protection rating of 16 steel mills and foundries in Tangshan downgraded, proportion of future production restrictions to be affected

Following continuous checks and inspections, the Tangshan Ecological Environment Bureau has downgraded the environmental protection rating of 16 steel mills and foundries who have severe environmental problems, such as unstable operation of pollution prevention facilities, unorganised emissions, lax control of transportation vehicles, and low environmental management level. There are 10 blast furnace steel plants that are involved, including Tangshan Donghai Iron and Steel, Hebei Jinxi Iron and Steel, Tangshan Ganglu Iron and Steel, Tangshan Wenfeng Special Steel and Tangshan Delong Iron and Steel.

These steel mills will be subject to bigger production restrictions in the future when there are alerts of heavy pollution weather.

Hebei Baijian iron ore mine exploration project started, with annual capacity of 2 million mt of ROM

Jizhong Energy Co., Ltd. Has commenced exploration of the Baijian iron ore mine in Baijian Village, Shahe City, Hebei Province. It is an iron ore resource mining project, and the final product is iron ore concentrate. The total investment of the project is 1.84 billion yuan, the designed annual mining and dressing capacity is 2 million mt of ROM, and the service life is 33 years. On March 24, 2020, the "Mineral Resources Exploration Permit" was obtained after the review and approval of the Ministry of Natural Resources.

According to the detailed investigation report of the Geological and Mineral Department, Baijian iron ore mine is a large-scale and high-grade magnetite deposit. The resource reserves are 95.25 million mt, with an average grade of 47.73% TFe (total iron), and 43.48% mFe (magnetic iron). It also contains symbiotic pyrite, gypsum ore, cobalt metal and other resources. The mine has simple ore structure and is easy for beneficiation. It is among the few remaining undeveloped high-quality iron ore resource in China.

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