On July 26, Hubei Province-based Chinese steelmaker Wuhan Iron and Steel Co. (WISCO) started construction work on cold rolling production facilities at its Fangchenggang iron and steel base project in Guangxi Province, according to local media sources.
Investment in the cold rolling production facilities is expected to total RMB 4.8 billion ($781.8 million), while they will have an annual output capacity of 2.1 million mt of cold rolled sheet for application in the automotive industry. In 2012, WISCO's sales of cold rolled steel sheet for the auto sector totaled 2.5 million mt, ranking second among Chinese steelmakers.
WISCO's new steel production base at Fangchenggang will produce hot rolled sheet, hot rolled plate, cold rolled sheet, galvanized sheet, coated sheet and cold rolled silicon steel. The new steel base is expected to have annual output capacities of 8.50 million mt of pig iron, 9.20 million mt of semi-finished steel and 8.60 million mt of finished steel.