China Fire to works with Anshan Iron & Steel Group

Jan. 5, 2009
Fire systems company to provide factory a total fire protection solution

BEIJING, Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China Fire & Security Group, Inc., a leading industrial fire protection product and solution provider in China, announced today that the Company has signed two total solution contracts with Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corporation (Ansteel), for a total value of approximately USD$4.4 million.

Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corporation is headquartered in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, China. With annual production capacity of 32 million tons of iron and steel, Anshan is one of the top three large-scale, state-owned iron & steel companies in China.

Under the first contract, China Fire will serve as a total fire protection solution provider for the tandem rolling factory of Anling Iron & Steel Company Limited, one of Ansteel's subsidiaries. The contract is valued at approximately $2.8 million. China Fire will be responsible for implementing the entire fire protection project including engineering, procurement, construction, monitoring, technical guidance and maintenance. China Fire will provide a turn-key fire protection system that mainly includes the Company's analog linear fire detectors, multi-frequency infrared flame detectors, fire- alarm monitoring and control system, and water mist fire-extinguishing system. These systems will ensure that the entire production facility is safe from fire hazards and fully compliant to the new fire codes for the iron and steel industry. The project is expected to be completed within the next nine months.

The second contract, valued at approximately $1.6 million, will also serve as a total fire protection solution provider for the silicon steel factory of Ansteel. China Fire will also be responsible for implementing the entire fire protection project and providing the Company's patented products, including analog linear fire detectors, multi-frequency infrared flame detectors, fire- alarm monitoring and control systems, and water mist fire-extinguishing systems. This project is expected to be completed within the next nine months.

China Fire believes that silicon steel is the most important soft magnetic material in use today. Its applications are widely used in generators, motors, and transformers. Continued growth in electrical power generation in China has resulted in the development of better steel to decrease wasteful dissipation of energy (as heat) in electrical apparatuses and the minimization of the physical dimensions of the increasingly powerful equipment now demanded. As one of the top three silicon steel suppliers in China, Ansteel benefits significantly from increasing domestic demand, the development of an advanced product line and competitive pricing compared to other global competitors.

"We are very excited about the opportunity to provide our turn-key fire protection system to Ansteel, a long-term customer of China Fire," commented Mr. Gangjin Li, Executive Chairman of China Fire and Security. "We believe the Chinese government's recent actions, including its $586 billion economic stimulus package and encouraging the big iron & steel companies to become more efficient and environmentally friendly, can greatly benefit our company. The Chinese government also continues to encourage consolidation among more than one thousand steelmakers. We believe all of these steps will help to modernize manufacturing, improve efficiencies and minimize excess capacity, and to support the emergence of larger, more profitable iron & steel companies and the closure of obsolete facilities, all of which bodes well for our business. Some of our top tier customers are seeing real opportunities in the fragmented markets in which they operate, where demand is steadily increasing.

Even in this challenging market environment, the iron and steel industry has shown great demand for high-end steel products. We believe leading iron and steel companies will continue to spend money on updating their manufacturing capacity and fire protection expenses will be a necessary component of these upgrades.

China Fire has been focusing on top tier iron and steel companies in China and is pleased to be a recipient of repeat business from these large scale customers. We are optimistic that any industry consolidation will provide us with great opportunities to expand our market share and maintain our leadership position as a fire protection and solution provider in the Iron & Steel industry. We are committed to delivering our best services to Ansteel and look forward to securing additional long-term contracts in the future," concluded Mr. Li.