Jiangxi Province-based Chinese steelmaker Pingxiang Special Steel unexpectedly halted production on June 24 amid significant financial losses, shortages of cash and diverging views among investors as regards the future development of the company, as reported by local media sources on June 28.
Pingxiang Special Steel was established in September 2007 with an investment of RMB 300 million ($48.86 million). The company owes RMB 30 million ($4.89 million) to suppliers and distributors and owes a further RMB 55 million ($8.96 million) to banks. Local government has already contributed RMB 2 million ($325,733) to pay for workers' wages. Pingxiang Special Steel has an annual output capacity of 800,000 mt of special steel.