July 2006 — ThyssenKrupp Steel, Duisburg, and ANSC Angang New Steel Co, Anshan, have announced they will build a second hot-dip coating line on the site of their joint venture TAGAL in Dalian in the north of China. Contracts with the equipment manufacturer CMI and consortium partners Siemens and Drever were signed June 30 in Anshan, and construction work has commenced.

Costing 150 million US dollars, the new high-tech line "TAGAL II", owned equally by the joint venture partners, is scheduled to go into trial operation in early 2008. A total of 240 people will be employed there. Like its twin TAGAL I, which was commissioned in December 2003, the TAGAL II hot-dip coating line is designed for the production of around 400,000 tonnes of hot-dip coated steel sheet meeting the demanding surface requirements of the auto and appliance industries.

ThyssenKrupp Steel CEO Dr. Karl-Ulrich Köhler explains: "With the realization of TAGAL II we are expanding our strategic cooperation with our Chinese partner ANSC with a view to exploiting the market opportunities available in China together: By 2010 we expect demand to grow by 5.1 percent for automotive grades and 4.1 percent for grades for the appliance industry."

The new line will be the second of its kind in northern China – the first being TAGAL I. Located in Dalian, a port with a population of 5.5 million, the facility will be just ten kilometers from a container port, providing ideal transport links. The 430-meter-long new building will cover a total area of 70,000 square meters.