Belgium trading house Steelinvest Group and Chinese steel producer Delong Steel Group announced a new joint venture company Ziming SG Global in a press release Feb. 19.
Ziming SG Global, based in Dubai, UAE will market and sell steel produced by Delong’s mills, focusing on the export of the Chinese mill group’s products including flat steel, long steel, slabs and billets.
Delong Group has a combined capacity of approximately 30 million mt/year across 11 steel mills, five of which are integrated.
“We shall focus on markets where Chinese steel is welcomed, we shall sell where we can,” said Fred Hayrapet, Managing Director of Ziming SG Global.
“Whilst we are cognitive of the headwinds currently in the international steel markets, I’m sure you are aware of the volume of exports from China last year even while very similar barriers existed.”
China’s exports of semi-finished and finished steel in 2024 hit an all-time high at 117.055 million mt, up 25.1%, or 23.511 million mt, year over year, according to Chinese customs data.
The announcement highlighted that Delong Steel Group ranked 11th in the list of top steel producers for 2023, according to the Worldsteel Association, with an output of 28.26 million mt.
Although China’s domestic steel demand remains mixed, there was a notable uptick in imports of Chinese steel in several locations, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia increasing their inflows by 48% and 42.1%, respectively, according to the CEIC.
