China cracks down on steel mills

China, the world’s biggest steel producer, says it will crack down on unauthorized steel mills as it positions itself to wield more control over prices during crucial iron ore talks. Only about 300 million t of the 567.8 million t of crude steel produced last year in China was made with full government authorization, according to Miao Yu, a vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. China plans step up efforts to shut down small mills or merge them with big steelmakers, cutting output to about 500 million t by 2011, Miao said in remarks posted on the government-affiliated China Iron and Steel Association’s Web site.

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