COLLECTIVE DEVELOPMENT: The Corex C-3000 plant jointly operated by Siemens VAI and Baosteel is the first of its kind in the country and also the largest in the world (COURTESY OF SIEMENS VAI)

The beauty of this technology, said Dawidowsky, is that it replaces the blast furnace, the most energy-consuming part of the process.

"We are satisfied with what we have made up till now," Dawidowsky said. "Baosteel is really a partner that can bring its operational experiences. We are finding a lot of optimization potential which we are now bringing into our new Corex C-3000 plants and testing there." The second Corex C-3000 plant is currently under construction and will be commissioned in November this year.

The Chinese Government is taking more concrete measures in terms of saving energy and reducing emissions. Dawidowsky believes that the Corex technology fits exactly into these efforts, which could reduce carbon emissions by up to 30 percent and sulfur dioxide emissions by 97 percent compared with conventional processes.

Portfolio expansion

"The strategy of moving to countries like China and India is not just participating in the growth," Dawidowsky said. "It gives us access to additional market segments."

Besides, iron making, casting and rolling as well as long rolling are major business segments that Siemens VAI plans to expand throughout China. The products that the company has transferred to China include reversing cold mills, finishing lines, aluminum foil mills, caster segments, shapetech products and bar mills.

Dawidowsky said his company's customers in China are not only limited to state-owned steel conglomerates, but also smaller, privately owned companies. On April 22, Siemens VAI said on its website that it had won an order from Quzhou Yuanli Metal Products Co. Ltd. in east China's Zhejiang Province for a bar reducing and sizing mill.

Dawidowsky believes that portfolio expansion requires time, people, investment and passion. "Keeping passion for the company is not a problem," he said, "because due to the market, the growth we have and the future growth in China, people are very eager to take on responsibilities and develop.

"With an investment of 35 million euros over two to three years, we will recruit 200 engineers and project managers and 200 shop floor people in China by the end of 2011," Dawidowsky told Beijing Review. "We cannot buy, we have to win markets and customers."