ArcelorMittal launches automotive steel joint venture in China

27 June 2008

Mumbai: ArcelorMittal, the world's largest producer of steel, has teamed up with China's Hunan Valin Group and Hunan Valin Steel Co to set up Valin ArcelorMittal Automotive Steel, an automotive joint venture with annual capacity to produce 1.2 million tonnes of flat carbon steel, mainly for automotive applications.

Products will include cold rolled steel, galvannealed steel and pure zinc galvanized steel, ArcelorMittal said in a release.

The setup of this new joint venture is still subject to regulatory approval.

Hunan Valin Steel Co will own 34 per cent in the new joint venture while ArcelorMittal and Hunan Valin Group will each have a 33 per cent equity stake.

The new facility will be located in Hunan Province next to Hunan Valin Steel Co's subsidiary, Lianyuan Steel, which will supply hot rolled coil to the new joint venture.

''We have been working closely together with Hunan Valin Steel Co for three years now and the cooperation is going very well. We are making a lot of progress and the signing of these joint venture contracts is only further proof of this. This automotive joint venture is part of our global and China strategy, aiming to better serve both our global as well as domestic automotive clients by offering high value added products with the support of ArcelorMittal technology,'' Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal said.