Shougang eyes automobile steel business

Shougang Jingtang United Iron Ore and Steel Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the Shougang Group, will produce about 300,000 metric tons of automobile steel products this year, up 275 percent compared with last year, Yang Chunzheng, vice-general manager of the company, said on Monday.

Yang said that because of the economic slowdown, the steel industry is suffering from losses caused by declining prices and overcapacity. Thus, many steel companies are turning to new products to make it through the tough times.

"Automobile steel is a growing sector with good profitability," Yang said.

The company produced only 80,000 tons of automobile steel sheets last year, but the figure will grow to about 500,000 tons next year, he said.

Baosteel Group is China's largest automobile steel products manufacturer, taking up about half of the country's automobile steel sheets market.