台湾中钢与大陆宝钢联手投资海外铁矿

飞雪寒冰

Taiwan’s China Steel and China’s Baosteel are planning to invest jointly in overseas iron ore mines.
台湾的中钢公司(China Steel)和大陆宝钢集团(Baosteel)正计划联合投资海外铁矿。

The move is a rare example of companies from Taiwan and mainland China co-operating overseas, which in the past has been largely restricted to offshore oil drilling.
此举在两岸企业的海外合作中很少见。过去，两岸企业的海外合作大多局限在海上石油钻探领域。

飞雪寒冰

The alliance, which the Taiwanese company confirmed on Wednesday, will be a first for cross-Strait steel industry co-operation. This in part reflects new business opportunities deriving from the political detente and economic liberalisation between mainland China and Taiwan over the past two years. The move also comes as pressure increases for steel companies to secure their own supply of raw materials.
中钢于周三证实了双方的结盟。这将是两岸钢铁业首次展开合作。这在一定程度上反映出，过去两年两岸政治关系的缓和以及经济限制的放宽，正带来新的商机。与此同时，钢铁企业在确保自身原材料供应方面也面临着越来越大的压力。

But the partnership may also prove sensitive because the Taiwan government still owns about 20 per cent of China Steel. Despite the warming of relations, Chinese investment into Taiwan is still heavily regulated and there is wariness on the democratic island over becoming too economically reliant on communist China.
但此番合作可能也会有些敏感，因为台湾政府仍持有中钢约20%的股份。尽管两岸关系有所回暖，但大陆投资台湾仍受到严格的监管，施行民主制的台湾也对自己在经济上太过依赖奉行共产主义的大陆保持警惕。

飞雪寒冰

China Steel said it and Baosteel “have a need to search for raw ingredients so this move is a positive [for both companies]. Baosteel is a private sector, publicly-listed company, so working [is] not something that should involve politics”.
中钢表示，中钢与宝钢都需要寻找原材料，因此此次合作（对两家企业都）有积极作用，宝钢是一家上市私企，所以合作应该不会牵扯到政治。

China Steel would happily work with other steel companies, such as South Korea’s Posco, on joint overseas investment “but they already have their own iron ore [supply]”, the company said. Baosteel was a natural partner because the two companies have already co-operated on technical issues in the past and Baosteel does not yet have its own iron ore mines.
中钢表示，中钢很乐意与韩国浦项制铁(Posco)等其它钢铁企业联合进行海外投资，“但它们已经有自己的铁矿石（供应）”。宝钢是最佳合作伙伴，因为两家企业过去已经就一些技术问题进行过合作，而且宝钢尚没有自己的铁矿。

飞雪寒冰

The co-operation also highlights the pressures that volatile iron ore prices impose on mid-sized steel mills. In recent months, this has led to a number of iron ore mine acquisitions by steel companies, as well as a new pricing system for iron ore this year.
此次合作还突显了起伏不定的铁矿石价格对中型钢企造成的压力。最近几个月，这种压力已导致大量铁矿石资产被钢企收购，并在今年促成了新的铁矿石定价机制。