China's Steel Giant to Issue 2 Billion Yuan Enterprise BondsAn official from the Shanghai Baogang Iron and Steel Group announced Tuesday that the company will issue 2 billion yuan in enterprise bonds between August 10 and September 20.The coupon rate of the bonds is 2.2 percentage points higher than the annual interest rate of a one-year bank deposit. The bonds are awarded an AAA rating, China's highest bond rating. The bonds will guarantee funds needed by the company in building China's iron and steel production base. In accordance with the company's plan, Baogang will become China's iron and steel production and research base by 2010. With an annual output of 17 million tons of iron, the group ranked seventh among the world's iron and steel producers in 1999. In the first half of the year, the group's sales income reached 35.456 billion yuan. Profits were 1.114 billion yuan, 78 percent higher than last year's total profits. |
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