Hanwa and Nisshin Steel Increase Stainless Steel Processing Capacity in China

Chang Fu Stainless Steel Center (Suzhou), a joint coil center in China between Hanwa and Nisshin Steel, will start new factory construction on January 26 in Taicang city of Jiangsu Region, China. A new building will complete in August 2007 and start operation in September 2007 with a slitter and a mini leveler. After September all equipment will be transferred from the existing factory and the processing system will be integrated in December 2007. New factory’s processing capacity will become to 25,000 tonnes per month, larger by about 9,000 tonnes of the existing factory. The existing factory will be closed after the completion of the new factory. Japanese major steel trading house, Hanwa, and Japanese major stainless steel maker, Nisshin Steel, established Chang Fu Stainless Steel Center in 1995 to supply products to Japanese users in China. Chang Fu Stainless Steel Center started operation in 1996. Capital investment is US$ 11.16 million, 58% controlled by Hanwa, about 40% by Nisshin Steel and about 1.8% by others. The new factory will have 3 large slitters, 7 mini slitters, a large leveler and 4 shearing machines. The total investment for the new factory will account for about 1.1 billion yen. Chang Fu Stainless Steel Center builds up processing capacity for automobile as well as for consumer electronics and information equipment. The Center currently processes for consumer electronics and information equipment mainly which account for about 70% of all processing volume. The Center will raise the processing ratio for automobile from recent 20% to near 30%.