Chinese help a Serbian steel factory to regenerate
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- JUNNAN STEEL NEWS
- publisher
- Gloria Wong
- Issue Time
- May 17,2019
Summary
Smederevo is located about 60 km southwest of Belgrade, the Serbian capital. In this small town of about 100,000 people, there are 9 Chinese people who manage a steel mill that affects the livelihood of one-fifth of the local population.
Founded in 1913, the Smeder Revo Steel Plant was once theonly state-owned steel plant in Serbia and was hailed as “the pride of Serbia”.However, due to fierce competition in the international market and poormanagement, the steel mill was once in trouble and was on the verge ofbankruptcy. The Serbian government had to subsidize 10 million US dollars permonth to barely maintain its operations.
In the first half of 2016, China Hebei Iron and Steel Groupacquired the steel plant for 46 million euros and established Hegang SerbiaCo., Ltd. After the acquisition, the steel mill reversed the loss for sevenconsecutive years. In 2018, the steel plant produced 1.77 million tons of steelper year, setting a record of 105 years since its establishment. In the sameyear, it achieved a revenue of 1.05 billion US dollars. It became the firstforeign exchange earner in Serbia, and the Smeder Revo steel plant was reborn.