China Steel interested in Taiwan's top builder

Taipei: China Steel Corp and unlisted Taiwan Maritime Transportation Co may bid for a stake in Taiwan's China Shipbuilding Corp as the government tries to privatize the company for a second time, the Commercial Times reported Tuesday. The Taiwan government previously said it plans to dispose of a 51% to 66% stake in China Shipbuilding, the island's largest shipbuilder by capacity. The government owns 99.4% of the shipbuilder. Only Taiwan Maritime Transportation submitted a bid in the first round in 2005, the newspaper said. The second tender will be published Tuesday and will last for four weeks, the paper said.  [22/08/06]