ANSHAN Iron and Steel Group, also known as Angang, said yesterday it has agreed to invest in a steel mill in the United States, the first time for a Chinese company to set up a steel plant overseas.

The agreement was signed last Friday with privately owned Steel Development Co, an American firm, which plans to build five plants in the US, Angang said. It did not disclose the financial figure or how much stake it will take.

Angang and Steel Development have also inked equipment sourcing and products sales deals. The Chinese firm will send a team of technicians, financial staff and managers to the plant.

The deal needs the approval of the Ministry of Commerce.

"The company set up an entity in the US to take full advantage of US massive stimulus package that stipulated steel used in infrastructure projects could only be supplied by domestic makers," according to Angang's statement. "And we see a short supply of certain products."

The plant will be built in Amory, Mississippi, and supply to the southeastern US and Latin America, the Liaoning Province-based firm said in the statement on its Website. The Wall Street Journal quoted an anonymous official saying annual output of the plant could reach 300,000 tons.

The Mississippi state government will offer subsidies to the Amory plant. Investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, are financing the project.