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To: TobagoJack who wrote (45556)	2/3/2004 10:54:35 AM
From: Box-By-The-Riviera™	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

you ivy league-er you! shrub is from the ivy league too hmmmmm.... ah..... it was an insult. now i get it. keep her around. she's better than a/c all day long.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (45556)	2/3/2004 8:01:48 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 74559

Baosteel partners with CVRD. That's how capital spreads more evenly: from the US to China and from there to Brazil. Baosteel pursues $1.4bn Brazilian project By Richard McGregor in Shanghai Published: February 3 2004 17:04 \| Last Updated: February 3 2004 17:04 The Shanghai Baosteel Group, China's biggest steelmaker, is pressing ahead with its joint-venture steel mill in Brazil with Companhia Vale do Rio Doce in a project it claims will be the mainland's largest overseas investment. Baosteel signed an agreement in Brazil this week with CVRD, the largest global producer of iron ore, to undertake a feasibility study for the first stage of the project: a $1bn-$1.4bn integrated mill with an annual production of nearly 4m tonnes of steel slabs. Baosteel's partnership with CVRD in the project in north-east Brazil gives it access to secure supplies of iron ore, a resource that has become more expensive and difficult to access on global markets in the last year because of soaring Chinese demand. The agreement envisages the construction of a second mill, to produce cold-rolled steel, after three to five years if demand remains strong, says Dr Xu Zhongbo, of Beijing Metal Consulting. That could bring the total investment to more than $2bn. Baosteel's move comes at a time when large Chinese companies, including the three state-owned oil companies and TCL, the electronics group, are starting to pursue overseas assets aggressively. Baosteel is also understood to be in talks with Tisco, a steelmaker that is part of the family-run Tata Group, one of India's largest conglomerates, which has direct access to supplies of iron ore as well. Iron ore prices have risen by 20 per cent this year, a substantial additional cost for local steelmakers on top of higher shipping rates, which have also been driven up by Chinese demand for oil and industrial raw materials. Dr Xu estimates Chinese steel production could rise to as high as 260m tonnes this year, compared with 220m in 2003. Another 20m-30m tonnes is expected to be imported to meet total demand. Xie Qihua, chairwoman and president of Baosteel, said in a statement issued at a signing ceremony to launch the project's feasibility study that the "agreement will be the first of many opportunities for the Chinese iron and steel industry to take advantage of the Brazilian capability as a low-cost producer of steel". With official approval expected in the first half of this year from the Chinese government for the investment, construction on the first phase of the mill could begin early next year. Baosteel, which is directly controlled by central government, needs Beijing's permission before it can invest offshore. "Baosteel's approach is the same as Chinese oil companies - that they must go overseas to secure supplies of raw materials," said Dr Xu. Europe-based Arcelor, the world's largest steelmaker, has also been invited to join the venture in Brazil.