That's not a real grub as it did not say anything. Herewith the real 19,000 grub:
China May Turn Net Zinc Importer for the First Time in 14 Years
By Xiao Yu
Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- China, which produces roughly 20
percent of the world's refined zinc, may this year be a net
importer of the metal for the first time since 1990, a
government analyst said.
The country may import as much as 20,000 metric tons of
refined zinc, used to rust-proof steel, by the end of this year,
and as much as 100,000 tons next year, said Feng Juncong, a
senior analyst at Beijing Antaike Information Co. Last year,
China exported a net of 315,000 tons of the metal.
China is importing more zinc as companies like Shanghai
Baosteel Group Corp., the world's sixth largest steelmaker, make
more of the steel plates used in the bodies of automobiles.
Baosteel is boosting output to replace imports of the plates
from South Korea's Posco, and Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. and JFE
Holdings Inc.
``Chinese steel companies are using more zinc as they
increase galvanized steel production'' for the automobile
industry, Feng said in an interview. Antaike is an affiliate of
the China Nonferrous Metals Association.
If zinc alloy is included, China was already a net importer
of more than 133,000 tons of the metal in the first nine months
of this year, according to the latest figures from the Beijing-
based customs office.
China's zinc production will reach 3 million tons by the
end of this year, Antaike's Feng estimated. Zhuzhou Smelter
Group Co. and Huludao Zinc Industry Co. are the country's
biggest producers of the metal.
Automakers
Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., the listed arm of Baosteel, will
soon start production at an $800 million plant with Arcelor SA
and Nippon Steel in Shanghai to produce 1.7 million tons a year
of rolled steel, including 800,000 tons of galvanized sheet from
May 2005.
Baosteel, the country's largest steelmaker, supplies about
60 percent of the steel sheets used by China's automakers,
mainly to government ventures with General Motors Corp.,
Volkswagen AG and PSA Peugeot Citroen.
Apart from Baosteel, Wuhan Iron & Steel Co. in the central
province of Hubei, and Benxi Iron & Steel Group in Liaoning
province in the north also make galvanized steel. China is able
to produce 4.5 million tons of galvanized steel plates a year,
according to Xu Aihua, another Antaike analyst.
International automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. are
adding production and introducing new models to increase their
share of China's car market, seeking to benefit as the
increasing number of Chinese that can afford cars spurs demand.
Toyota and its partner Guangzhou Automobile Group this
month said they plan to invest 3.8 billion yuan to build Camry
models in a new factory in the southern Chinese city of
Guangzhou. The factory will start making 100,000 units a year in
2006.
--With reporting by Tian Ying in Beijing. Editor: Viljoen. |
