According to the latest updates, HBIS Group Serbia Iron & Steel, a subsidiary of China’s Hebei Iron & Steel Group, plans to invest 300 million euro (USD 266 million) in Serbian steel mill Zelezara Smederevo by 2020.
The investments will be made in the acquisition of new equipment at the factory, as Zelezara Smederevo needs a new machine and a new stepping furnace. Moreover, HBIS plans to make investments in the reduction of the emissions of greenhouse gases and dust by Zelezara Smederevo. The Chinese company has so far invested 158 million euro in the modernisation of the equipment of Zelezara Smederevo.
HBIS took over the management and ownership of Zelezara Smederevo in July 2016, three months after the government agreed to sell the steel mill to the Chinese group for 46 million euro.
Serbia has become an attractive destination for foreign investments as a result of the reforms implemented by the government and the constant economic growth, recognized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
The country is seeking exclusion from the planned restrictions on steel imports into the EU by claiming that imposing restrictions on steel imports from Serbia, the European Union would violate the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) it had signed with the country.
Serbia’s steel sector
Serbia’s production of crude steel rose 5.5% on the year to 862,000 tonnes in the first five months of 2019, according to data of the World Steel Association. Serbia was the largest producer of crude steel among the seven countries of Southeast Europe (SEE) included in the World Steel Association’s monthly production report for May.
The combined production of the seven SEE countries — Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Serbia and Moldova — rose by 3.7% on the year to 2.079 million tonnes in the first five months of 2019.
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