Hyundai Heavy ramps Chinese steel consumption

Ulsan: Hyundai Heavy Industries will buy 180,000 tonnes of steel plates each year from China's Jiangsu Shagang Group, as talks with Japanese steel makers have stalled. Under the agreement, China would supply about 22 percent of Hyundai's steel plate needs in 2007, or 700,000 tonnes, up from 16 percent in 2006, or 500,000 tonnes, Hyundai said in a statement. HHI also revealed Friday it is it is in negotiations to buy a stake in China's Qinhuangdao Shouqin Metal Materials Co. "We have been in talks with the Chinese steelmaker over the terms of a deal since December 2005, when we signed a letter of intent on the stake purchase," said a company spokeswoman. [22/09/06]