Baosteel, Hansteel co-invest new plant

Domestic steelmakers Baosteel and Hansteel have founded a new jointly invested steel company, Xinhua Net reported (in Chinese). The 50-50 joint venture, named Hanbao Steel, has US$1.6 billion in registered capital. The first phase of construction of Hanbao's first factory, which is set to have a capacity of 4.6 million tons of high-quality steel, will be completed in the first half of 2008. Baosteel is China's largest steel manufacturer, while Hansteel ranks the sixth in the sector.