China Special Steel Industry Report, 2006-2007 ..

Nowadays, China is the largest steel producer as well as the largest consumer in the world. However, Chinese steel industrialization is still in its early stage, high value-added products with high technical content are still in short supply. Besides, the quality of steel product is not very high, and the product structure is also unreasonable, as a result, China is merely a large steel manufacturing country instead of a powerful one.

Unlike the common steel, which is mainly used in building, road, bridge and steel structure construction etc, the special steel is mainly applicable for industries of machinery, military, automobile, railway, aviation, petroleum and coal etc, all of which have special requirements for the physical and chemical performance of the steel. And accordingly, the manufacturing process of special steel product is more complicated, and the technical content is higher than that of common steel.

The development of such powerful steel countries as U.S., Russia and Japan etc shows that the demands for special steel will become increasingly strong if the demands for common steel get saturated in a country. And the proportion of special steel products in total steel output represents the whole level of national steel industry. At present, special steel products in the developed countries normally account for 15%-25% of total steel output. For instance, it accounts for 25% in Japan, 20% in U.S. and 18% in Europe. The special steel products in China, however, only shared as low as 8%-10%.

In July 2005, China issued the policy on steel industry, which provided favorable polices for the development of special steel. It was specified that the Chinese government would encourage the large scale special steel enterprises to develop high value-added and high-end products so that the resource advantages can be transferred into the industrial advantages. Guided by the new industrial policies, Chinese special steel enterprises will not only develop towards more professional, but also can achieve further advancement in grouping strategy and scale benefits and moreover, the quality and deep processing of products will also make a great progress.

According to the statistics of China Special Steel Enterprises Association, the accumulative output of prime special steel amounted to 46.953 million tons in 2005, up by 14.50% over the year of 2004, among which the non-alloy steel output was 23.551 million tons with a year-on-year growth of 16.48%, that of the low alloy steel was 11.599 million tons with 14.28%, the alloy steel output was 10.476 million tons with 9.86% and the stainless steel was 1.237 million tons with 20.45%.

Since the initial integration, China special steel industry has gradually formed four large scale special steel conglomerates: Xingcheng-Xinyegang Group in East & Central South China, Dongbei Special Steel Group in Northeast China, Baosteel Special Steel Group in East China and Xining Special Steel Group in Northwest China.

China special steel industry should comply with the development trend of the international special steel industry, focus on intensive operation, and carry out structural adjustment and reorganization etc, so as to achieve sustainable development in a growing competitive market both at China and abroad.

Contents

1 OVERVIEW OF SPECIAL STEEL INDUSTRY IN 2006

1.1 Definition and Classification
  1.1.1 Definition
  1.1.2 Classification
1.2 Characteristics
  1.2.1 Operating Performance in 2004
  1.2.2 Operating Performance in 2005
  1.2.3 Steady Market Development in 2006
1.3 Development of Special Steel Industry in 2006
  1.3.1 New Adjustment
  1.3.2 Roles in National Economy

2 DEVELOPMENT OF STEEL INDUSTRY IN 2006

2.1 Operation of China Steel Industry in 2006
  2.1.1 Operating Performance in 2006
  2.1.2 Production, Sales and Inventory of Moderate-thickness Plate in Feb 2006
  2.1.3 Production Capacity of Major Steel Enterprises in 2006
  2.1.4 Import and Export in 2006
2.3 Price of Steel Market in 2006
2.4 Outline of Steel and Related Industries during the 11th Five-year Plan Period (2006-2010)
2.5 Forecast of China Steel Output in 2006

3 REVIEW OF CHINA SPECIAL STEEL INDUSTRY IN 2005

3.1 Operating Performance in 2004
3.2 Operating Performance in 2005
3.3 Overall Performance in 2005
3.4 Structural Adjustment

4 OVERALL DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL STEEL INDUSTRY IN 2006

4.1 Market Status
4.2 Development Trend
4.3 Prospect

5 SUPPLY & DEMAND AND PROSPECT OF STAINLESS STEEL IN 2006

5.1 Outstanding Performance in International Market in 2006
5.2 Price Trend in 2006
5.3 Chinese Stainless Steel Supply in 2005
5.4 Stainless Steel Market in 2006
5.5 Demand Forecast during the 11th Five-year Plan Period

6 SUPPLY & DEMAND AND PROSPECT OF BEARING STEEL IN CHINA IN 2006

6.1 Market Review
6.2 Market Pattern both at China and Abroad
6.3 Production in 2005
6.4 Market Status in Feb 2006
6.5 Development of Bearing and Bearing Steel Industry during the 11th Five-year Plan Period

7 STATUS QUO AND PROSPECT OF SPRING STEEL IN CHINA IN 2006

7.1 Market Review
7.2 Status Quo of Chinese Spring Manufacturers
7.3 Alloy Spring Steel Production in China
7.4 Market Demand for Alloy Spring Steel in China

8 SUPPLY & DEMAND AND PROSPECT OF TOOL AND DIE STEEL IN CHINA IN 2006

8.1 Overview of China Die Steel in 2006
8.2 China Tool and Die Mould Market, Jan-May 2006
8.3 Technology Orientation of Die Steel in China
8.4 Market Prospect of Tool and Die Steel during the 11th Five-year Plan Period

9 SUPPLY & DEMAND AND PROSPECT OF STRUCTURAL STEEL IN 2006

9.1 Market Status, Jan-May 2006
9.2 Carbon Constructional Steel Market during Jan-May 2006
9.3 Structural Steel Markets in Key Regions during Jan-May 2006

10 SUPPLY & DEMAND AND PROSPECT OF GEAR STEEL IN 2006

11 RESEARCHES ON MAIN DOMESTIC REGIONAL MARKETS IN 2006

11.1 Shenyang
11.2 Beijing
11.3 Hangzhou
11.4 Shanghai
11.5 Chengdu
11.6 Shandong

12 MERGER AND REORGANIZATION OF CHINA SPECIAL STEEL INDUSTRY

12.1 Strategic Significance
12.2 Merger and Reorganization of Dongbei Special Steel Group
12.3 Merger and Reorganization of Pangang and Changgang
12.4 Regional Reorganization of Baosteel
12.5 CITIC Pacific & Daye Special Steel

13 THREATS FROM FOREIGN CAPITAL IN 2006

13.1 Status Quo of Foreign Capital Entry into China Special Steel Industry in 2006
13.2 Western Special Steel Industries Seeking Alliance in China
13.3 International Competitiveness of China Special Steel Industry

14 COMPOSITIONS OF COST & EXPENSE AND PRICE TREND OF SPECIAL STEEL PRODUCTS

14.1 Iron Ore Demand and Price Trend
14.2 Market Price of Coking Coal
14.3 Market Price of Scrap Steel
14.4 Iron Alloy Supply and Price Trend
14.5 Policy Influence for Special Steel Enterprises
14.6 Influences of Transportation and Power Cost

15 DEVELOPMENTS OF MAJOR SPECIAL STEEL ENTERPRISES IN CHINA

15.1 Baosteel Group
  15.1.1 Operating Results
  15.1.2 Operating Plans of 2006
  15.1.3 Factors Influencing Company Development
  15.1.4 Development Forecast
15.2 Jiangyin Xingcheng Special Steel Co., Ltd
  15.2.1 Corporate Profile
  15.2.2 Bearing Steel Output
  15.2.3 Management Strategies in 2006
  15.2.4 Development Strategies in 2006
15.3 Dongbei Special Steel Group
  15.3.1 Corporate Profile
  15.3.2 Operating Results
  15.3.3 Strategic Goals
  15.3.4 Operating Performance of Main Subsidiaries
15.4 Laiwu Steel Corporation
  15.4.1 Operating Results
  15.4.2 Operating Plans in 2006
15.5 Sichuan Changcheng Special Steel Co., Ltd
  15.5.1 Operating Results
  15.5.2 Development Prospect in 2006
15.6 Daye Special Steel Co., Ltd
  15.6.1 Operating Results
  15.6.2 Operating Plans in 2006
  15.6.3 Factors Influencing Company Development
  15.6.4 Development Forecast
15.7 Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel Co., Ltd
  15.7.1 Operating Results
  15.7.2 Development Prospect
15.8 Xining Special Steel Co., Ltd
  15.8.1 Operating Results
  15.8.2 Operatingl Plans in 2006
  15.8.3 Factors Influencing Company Development
  15.8.4 Development Forecast
15.9 Shandong Shiheng Special Steel Co., Ltd
  15.9.1 Corporate Profile
  15.9.2 Operating Results
15.10 China Special Steel Holdings Co., Ltd
  15.10.1 Corporate Profile
  15.10.2 Business Prospect

16 DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA SPECIAL STEEL INDUSTRY

16.1 Life Cycle
16.2 Associates with Macroeconomic Cycle
16.3 Growth
16.4 Maturity
16.5 Monopolization

17 INVESTMENT RISKS OF CHINA SPECIAL STEEL INDUSTRY IN 2006

17.1 Entry and Exit Barriers
17.2 Investment Risks in 2006
17.3 Analysis on Over-investment
17.4 Influence of RMB Appreciation

TABLES/FIGURES