Chinese steelmakers Ansteel Group and Ben Gang formally began the process of merging their operations on Friday, the official Xinhua news agency reported, in a move that will create the world's third-largest producer of the metal.
The merged entity, which will retain the Ansteel name, will have annual production capacity of 63 million tonnes of crude steel, Xinhua said, after combining the operations of the companies whose headquarters are only some 60 km apart in northeast China's Liaoning province.The extra production will see Ansteel leapfrog HBIS Group to become China's second-biggest steelmaker and put it third globally behind only China Baowu Group and ArcelorMittal .