SHANGHAI (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal , the world's top steelmaker, has agreed to sell its 12 percent stake in an auto sheet joint venture with China's Baosteel and Japan's Nippon Steel to the Japanese firm, a company spokeswoman said on Friday.
The move will give Nippon Steel a 50 percent stake in the joint venture, Baosteel-NSC/Arcelor (BNA) Automotive Co, while Baosteel holds the other half.
The ArcelorMittal spokeswoman said the move is aimed at focusing on another automotive JV project with a middle-sized Chinese steelmaker, the Hunan Valin Group .
On Tuesday, the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) criticised ArcelorMittal for not fulfilling its commitment to support Valin, saying the steel giant failed to provide the Chinese partner with the technical support needed for their joint venture auto sheet plant.
Chi Jingdong, CISA's deputy secretary general, also said ArcelorMittal did not fulfil promises to help the Chinese firm secure supplies of iron ore.
"China remains an important jurisdiction where ArcelorMittal, through its joint ventures, will continue to develop value-added steel products for the Chinese market," company spokeswoman Lynn Robbroeckx said in an email to Reuters.
Baosteel-NSC/Arcelor (BNA) Automotive Co mainly produces auto sheet for the Chinese market and has an annual production capacity of 1.7 million tonnes, with 900,000 tonnes of cold-rolled sheet and 800,000 tonnes of hot-dipped galvanized sheet.
The move will give Nippon Steel a 50 percent stake in the joint venture, Baosteel-NSC/Arcelor (BNA) Automotive Co, while Baosteel holds the other half.
The ArcelorMittal spokeswoman said the move is aimed at focusing on another automotive JV project with a middle-sized Chinese steelmaker, the Hunan Valin Group .
On Tuesday, the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) criticised ArcelorMittal for not fulfilling its commitment to support Valin, saying the steel giant failed to provide the Chinese partner with the technical support needed for their joint venture auto sheet plant.
Chi Jingdong, CISA's deputy secretary general, also said ArcelorMittal did not fulfil promises to help the Chinese firm secure supplies of iron ore.
"China remains an important jurisdiction where ArcelorMittal, through its joint ventures, will continue to develop value-added steel products for the Chinese market," company spokeswoman Lynn Robbroeckx said in an email to Reuters.
Baosteel-NSC/Arcelor (BNA) Automotive Co mainly produces auto sheet for the Chinese market and has an annual production capacity of 1.7 million tonnes, with 900,000 tonnes of cold-rolled sheet and 800,000 tonnes of hot-dipped galvanized sheet.
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