POSCO to build auto steel sheet plant in southern China

SEOUL: South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO is to build a plant in southern China to produce steel sheets for automobile makers there, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

The plant in Guangdong province is to be completed by the end of 2012 with an annual production capacity of 450,000 tons of zinc-coated steel sheets, he said.

"Demand for high-end automotive steel sheets is likely to increase as auto production in China is continuously on the rise," he said.

POSCO already operates a stainless steel plant in Zhangjiagang city in the eastern province of Jiangsu, whose annual capacity will reach one million tonnes in 2013.

The world's fourth largest steelmaker, POSCO has been expanding in China, India and Indonesia. It has also announced plans to buy a Vietnamese stainless steel plant.