China’s Baoshan Iron &Steel, the country’s largest listed steelmaker, said it will invest $1.3billion in a natural gas pipeline project led by China National Petroleum Corp. Narrowing margins and weaker growth in demand have prompted steelmakers in China, the world’s top steel producer, to seek more cooperation with downstream users to increase profit.
The Shanghai-based steelmaker will take a 12.8% stake in the third West-East pipeline project -- a pipeline which will span more than 5,000 km starting from the northwestern border in Xinjiang to Fujian province in the southeast.The pipeline will have the capacity to transport 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year.China, the world’s largest energy consumer, is keen to boost construction of gas pipelines to help raise gas consumption in its overall energy mix and ease supply shortage in some regions.