Jinan Steel, now a listed subsidiary of Shandong Iron and Steel Group, announced it plans to absorb all the shares of Laiwu Steel, another listed arm of Shandong Steel Group, through a share-swap deal (each share of Laiwu Steel values 2.43 shares of Jinan Steel), and act as a sole public company under the control of Shandong Steel Group.

As of the end of 2008, Shandong Steel Group had a gross asset of 119.1 billion yuan and a net asset of 36.9 billion yuan. It produced 21.68 million tons of steel products (ranked fifth in China), had sales revenue of 120.5 billion yuan and a profit of 2.1 billion yuan in 2008. Jinan Steel, a producer of medium plate, wide plate and rebar, became China’s third largest listed steelmaker by producing over 17 million tons of steel, and had an operating income of 110 billion yuan in 2008. Laiwu Steel is China’s largest production base of H section, and also produces gear steel, bearing steel and rebar.