China's Western Region Needs More Steel ProductsChina's steel makers are expected to get a big boost from the country's all-out efforts to develop its western region.The central government will undertake large-scale infrastructure construction in the western region beginning this year to fuel its development, which will significantly stimulate demand for steel products, according to a source with the State Administration of Metallurgical Industry. This year's demand is expected to exceed 20 million tons in the western region, an increase of 20 percent from that of 1999. Wang Xiaoqi, director of development and planning department under the administration, noted that by the end of the country's Tenth Five-Year Plan (2001-2005), the government is expected to invest more than 300 billion yuan (36.14 billion U.S. dollars) in railway and road projects in the western region. China's western region covers 10 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions including Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou and Tibet. The region occupies more than half of the country's total territory. Construction of a 4,200-km natural gas pipeline from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the northwest to the east China's Shanghai Municipality is expected to begin next year and will require more than 2 million tons of steel products. There is also a great need of steel products for housing development in the western region, Wang said. Wang predicted that the demand for steel products in the region will rise to 25 million tons in 2005, about 16.5 percent of the country's total. Moreover, many foreign steel producers are also considering the large potential market in the region, the official added. |
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