Hesteel not to be selling Chinese steel from Smederevo in EU – Company to invest USD 120 million in 2017

Hesteel Serbia reported on February 22 that the steel from China or other countries would not be sold in Serbia, EU countries or other countries in the area and added that it saw its chance for development in the manufacturing industry market in Serbia and the region.

The company's director, Sihai Song, said that the annual production at Zelezara Smederevo, owned by the Chinese Hesteel, amounted to 2.2 million tons of steel and that the goods produced at Zelezara Smederevo in the previous years had amounted to around 1% of the demand in EU.

– We are oriented toward selling the goods produced in Serbia, honoring all the laws of the state we operate in, including the EU laws. We will continue to service our EU customers, despite the small share we have in that market. In order to achieve our business goals successfully, we are dedicated to adhering to healthy economic principles and maintaining our operations in Serbia – he said.

Hesteel Serbia has responded to the anti-dumping investigation of the European Commission, pertaining to the period from July 1, 2015, till June 30, 2016, aiming to counter the import of hot-rolled products originating in several countries, including those from Zelezara Smederevo.

They remind that Hesteel Serbia has owned Zelezara Smederevo since July 1, 2016.

Song announced that Hesteel Serbia planned to invest USD 120 million in the facilities in 2017, focusing on enhancing and modernizing the functionality of the equipment, as well as the measures of optimizing production costs.

– We have considered a hot-dip galvanization line, but it was ultimately not included in the 2017 investment plan. This is still being discussed and there are no short-term investment plans. The key items of this capital investment plan are the enhancement of environmental protection and product quality, without further expanding the production capacities – he said.

He added that the property of the Smederevo steel mill is used in the production process of Hesteel Serbia, a member of the HBIS family, which “focuses on selling its Serbian products and fulfilling its business plans based on this production”.

Song said that Hesteel Serbia “is aware that, to the end of achieving the company's full competitiveness, the focus needs to be placed on making high quality products with added value, such as white tin and cold-rolled products demanded by our current and future customers”.

HBIS GROUP Iron & Steel d.o.o. Beograd

Železara Smederevo d.o.o.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Bruxelles

Hesteel Serbia

Hesteel

HBIS

Zelezara Smederevo

steel production

export of steel

Sihai Song

anti dumping investigation European Commission

hot rolled products

hot dip galvanizing

cold rolled products

white tin