Another Chinese steelmaker, Bohai Steel Group, has been given a bailout and Japan’s Tokyo Steel Manufacturing (T:5423) has left prices unchanged for three months.
Bohai Bailout
Bohai Steel Group, the indebted state-owned conglomerate, may receive help from a local government bailout fund to restructure its debts, the online financial magazine Caixin said over the weekend.
Bohai Steel, which was created in 2010 through the combination of four manufacturers, holds liabilities of $28.9 billion (192 billion CNY) from 105 creditors, alongside assets of nearly CNY 290 billion, Caixin reported.
The Tianjin government plans to create a local asset manager to assist in the debt workout of Bohai Steel, alongside other troubled Tianjin enterprises, the magazine said.
Restructuring of the group represented the biggest since the global financial crisis, Standard & Poor’s analyst Christopher Lee told Reuters in March.
Tokyo Steel Leaves Prices Unchanged
Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japan’s top electric arc furnace steelmaker, said on Monday it would keep product prices unchanged for the third month in September, reflecting a slow recovery in its local market.
Tokyo Steel’s pricing strategy is closely watched by Asian rivals such as POSCO, Hyundai Steel Co. and Baosteel, which all export to Japan.