ArcelorMittal, Hunan Valin Group and Hunan Valin Steel Co. have announced the launch of Valin ArcelorMittal Automotive Steel, an industrial and commercial joint venture.
The JV will have an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes of flat carbon steel, mainly for automotive applications. Products will include cold rolled steel, galvannealed steel and pure zinc galvanized steel. The structure of this new joint venture is still subject to regulatory approval.
Hunan Valin Steel Co., Ltd will own 34% in the new joint venture, and ArcelorMittal and Hunan Valin Group will each have a 33% equity share. The new activity will be located in Hunan Province next to Hunan Valin Steel Co.'s subsidiary, Lianyuan Steel, which will supply hot rolled coil to the new joint venture.
Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal said: "We have been working closely together with Hunan Valin Steel Co. for three years now and the cooperation is going very well. We are making a lot of progress and the signing of these joint venture contracts is only further proof of this. This automotive joint venture is part of our global and China strategy, aiming to better serve both our global as well as domestic automotive clients by offering high value added products with the support of ArcelorMittal technology."
Li Xiaowei, chairman of Hunan Valin Group, said: "Hunan Valin' s long term development and future really depends on the technological platform jointly set up with ArcelorMittal. Valin is structurally transforming its product portfolio and targeting high added-value products, allowing us to differentiate ourselves from our competitors and to accelerate the transformation of Hunan province."
Valin Steel mainly produces cold and hot rolled super-thin coils, heavy plates, seamless pipes with a wide range of diameters, fine wire rods, etc. Valin Steel' s products cater to varying market segments in more than ten countries and regions, including the US, Singapore, Korea, Australia, Middle East, Southern Europe, and Malaysia. With 57,000 employees including 12,000 technical staff, Valin Group now has more than 10 subsidiaries under direct or indirect control.
ArcelorMittal is an integrated metals and mining company with over 310,000 employees in more than 60 countries.