Marubeni-Itochu Steel to Launch Steel Coil Center in Changchun

Marubeni-Itochu Steel announced on Friday the firm builds new steel coil service center in Changchun, Jilin of China in November. The firm starts the wholly owned 1.8 billion yen coil center operation by end 2012. The firm expands the coverage of growing demand in northeastern part of China through the new coil center when existing coil center in Dalian keeps full capacity operation.

The new coil center is 5th Chinese operation while the center is first Changchun steel center for Japanese company. The firm’s Chinese sales force of Marubeni-Itochu Steel (Beijing) will open Dalian office to cover the demand in northeastern part of China.

Automobile production will reach 4 million units in Jilin in 2015 including 3 million units in Changchun while Japanese automakers expand the production capacity. The firm provides steel processing service both to transplants of Japanese manufactures and local manufacturers through the expanded capacity and optimum steel procurement knowhow when the steel demand increases to rail car, appliances and machinery along with automobile.

The new coil center with 55 million yuan of capital has a wide slitter and a mini leveler as the first phase on around 40,000 square meters of land. The firm studied expansion options when the existing coil center operates at full capacity with annual 180,000 tonnes of processing capacity.

Dalian city plans major industrial projects including production bases of petroleum chemical, shipbuilding, machinery and equipment and electronics and logistics center. The firm opens Dalian office to cover steel trade in Lianing, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces with cooperation with the processing centers.

The firm has already 4 coil centers with total around 900,000 tonnes of annual processing capacity in China. The firm launches new facility at the coil center in Guangzhou in April 2012 to expand the capacity to 360,000 tonnes. The firm also starts cold finished flat steel making operation at plant in Zhejiang in January 2012. The firm plans to expand offshore coil center capacity by around 25% to around 5 million tonnes under the mid-term plan starting in fiscal 2012. Growing Chinese market is the main target for the expansion.