Biz scene

MARKET

Steel merger

Laiwu Steel Group Co and Jinan Iron & Steel Group merged yesterday to create China's second biggest mill.

Shandong Iron & Steel Group Co was established yesterday, Laiwu and Jinan Steel's publicly traded units said in filings to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The companies, in Shandong, have prepared for the merger since August 2006.

A rally in commodities prices has spurred takeovers. Bigger Chinese mills may negotiate lower prices for iron ore, which will rise for a sixth year next month, and ward off unwanted suitors.

Shandong Steel could produce 23.8 million metric tons of steel a year, based on Laiwu and Jinan Steel's 2007 output.

Auto earnings

Chongqing Chang'an Automobile Co, the Chinese partner of Ford Motor Co and Mazda Motor Corp, boosted 2007 profit 28 percent, helped by demand for Ford Focus compacts.

Net income rose to 666.9 million yuan, or 0.34 yuan a share, from an adjusted 519.4 million yuan, or 0.27 yuan, a year earlier, the Sichuan-based company said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange yesterday.

Sales rose 12 percent to 13.7 billion yuan.

Profit jumps

Shanghai Industrial Development Co yesterday said net profit for the first quarter is expected to rise 300 percent year-on-year.

The company's net profit for the first quarter of 2007 was 16.74 million yuan, with earnings of 0.03 yuan per share.

BIZ MOVE

New president

VATS Group, owner of well-known Chinese liquor brand Jinliufu, recently appointed Yan Tao as group president.

Former president Wu Xiangdong quit the post but will stay as chairman to focus more on the group's development strategy and training.

Yan was appointed deputy general manager of Jinliufu in 1999 and was promoted to group vice-president in 2006.

BIZ UNUSUAL

Designer mouse pads

A migrant worker in Shanghai is brightening up office desks with her vibrant mouse pad designs.

Liu Yufen was struck by the ubiquity of dull mouse pads and decided to make her mark with a range of eye-catching designs.

Liu's mouse pads feature images including fish, bubbles and apples.

She sells the funky mouse pads for 10 yuan in Beijing, Shanghai and overseas.

Need a nap?

Feel like a nap after lunch but don't want to make a show of it in the office?

An entrepreneur in Linyi, Shandong province, has opened a "nap bar" in the city center, where white-collar workers can go for a quick kip. Li Yun charges nappers 10 yuan per hour. The bar is equipped with beds, thick curtains, folding screens, plants and flowers to aid post-prandial relaxation.

The bar also offers free tea, fruit and magazines.

Roaming rabbits

A rabbit breeder in Guizhou province is taking a free-range approach to improve his product.

Luo Junyin lets his rabbits roam free in fields rather than keeping them cooped up in cages.

"Luo's rabbit meat is delicious and of much better quality than rabbits raised in cages," Tang Mingbin, a local buyer, said.

Luo's rabbits are priced at 40 yuan per kg - much higher than the going rate for cage-bred rabbits.

LOCAL

Car contract

The Hefei government has signed a purchase contract with local car manufacturer Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co Ltd (JAC).

JAC is the preferred car manufacturer for local government, public service units and social organizations under the contract. The draft plan specifies an order of 100 JAC vehicles this year.

Edible oil supply

Anhui province is taking measures to ensure edible oil supply and maintain price stability. Under government coordination, two food manufacturing heavyweights, COFCO and Yihai-Kerry Group, made about 10,000 tons of edible oil available to the market. Oil demand recently increased due to a seasonal shortage of raw materials and large-scale hoarding by some oil retailers and local residents, the provincial commerce bureau said.

The market has since returned to normal.

Pay push

Construction companies in Henan province that delay paying migrant workers will be knocked back for new projects, according to the provincial construction office, labor and social security bureau and 10 other government departments.

Under government regulations, general contractors on construction projects must take full responsibility for paying migrant workers.

Bags banned

Thin plastic shopping bags less than 0.025 mm will be banned in Fujian province from June 1. The production and sale of the bags will be prohibited and the provincial government plans to remove the bags from all supermarkets, shopping malls and rural markets.

Consumers will be encouraged to bring their own shopping bags and companies have been urged to provide environmentally friendly shopping bags.

GRAPEVINE

Stake sale shelved

Morgan Stanley has shelved a plan to sell its stake in China International Capital Corp after receiving lower-than-expected offers for the holding, South China Morning Post said yesterday, citing unidentified sources.

TPG, J.C. Flowers & Co and Bain Capital LLC offered as little as $500 million for Morgan Stanley's 34.3 percent stake in CICC, the report said. The holding had earlier been valued at as much as $1 billion, it said.

The stake sale plan was also affected by growing unease among potential investors about working with CICC's management, the report said.

(China Daily 03/27/2008 page15)