China Steel Corporation (CSC), integrated producer of steel products in Taiwan, has invested an additional $40 million in a joint-venture steel plant with Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) in Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam, to secure a 5 percent share, also investing $12 million to build a metal cutting centre in Shangdong Province to tap the northern China market.

CSC’s first-half revenues reached NT$110.675 billion (US$3.69 billion), with NT$1.929 billion (US$64.3 million) in pre-tax earnings, NT$0.13 (US$0.0043) in earnings per share (EPS), according to CSC.

C.C. Li, executive vice president of CSC, pointed out that the company invested $135 million in FPG’s steel plant in Ha Tinh in 2000 for a 5 percent share, with the total investment set to increase by $2.117 billion, and CSC deciding to invest $40 million more to secure a 5 percent share.

To expand sales into northern China, CSC has co-invested with Rechi Precision Co. and China Steel Global Trading Corporation to establish a metal cutting logistics centre in Qingdao, Shandong province, at a cost of $20 million, of which CSC will invest $12 million for 60 percent share.

An institutional investor stated the global steel market is in doldrums. CSC initially planned to increase shareholding in the steel plant in Ha Tinh, but stopped adding capacity lest global steel production rises too fast.

CSC has gradually set up metal cutting centers in Foshan, south China, and Chongqing, southwest China, and will achieve more complete deployment in China after setting up the new logistics centre in Shandong, northern China.