Dozens of private-owned steel makers in China's major steel producing city Tangshan, Hebei Province, are restructuring in order to overcome the recession in the steel market.

On December 19, 27 steel makers and miners in Tangshan established Tangshan Great Wall Steel while another 12 formed Tangshan Bohai Steel, the biggest restructuring in China's private steel industry.

China's steel industry has been one of the worst affected by the international financial crisis as demand has declined sharply.

After the restructuring, Bohai Steel will have a production capacity of 15 million tons per year and Great Wall Steel a capacity of 13 million tons per year, with their combined output accounting for about half of the total capacity of Tangshan and roughly equalling the production capacity of China's biggest steel maker Baosteel.

(China Daily December 22, 2008)