State-owned Hebei Iron and Steel Group opened at Shijiazhuang yeasterday with a registered capital of CNY 20 billion. The new group, incorporated Tangshan Steel and Handan Steel will see an output rise from 31 million tonnes per year to 50 million tonnes per year by the end of 2009.

Mr Luo Bingsheng deputy vice president of CISA said the debut of the new group may help boost the centralization degree of Hebei’s steel industry, which is the dominant industry in the province. He said that in 2007, Hebei produced over 100 million tonnes of steel, the 6th consecutive year topping the output lists of crude steel, pig iron, steel products and iron ore nationwide. The focus of the steel industry in Hebei will gradually switch to coastal area.

By the end of 2020, the province will squeeze 80 million tons of steel capacity.