CONSTRUCTING THE FAR EAST
In the interim, the German steel industry has had to recognize that the world market for coke is now dominated by Peking. The numbers speak for themselves: with some 200 million tons, China met approximately 45 per cent of global demand in 2004 – and the rate is rising. Of the some 700 coking plants across the country, however, only 31 are producing more than one million tons of coke per annum. A fact which lead to a huge modernization and expansion program which also included the purchase and disassembly of modern plants in Germany and other countries. The jewel in the crown of the European acquisitions continues to be the Kaiserstuhl coking plant, which was re-assembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle in Shandong, a strategically favourable region between the huge metropolises of Peking and Shanghai, and re-commissioned. With the purchase of the plant, the new operators Yangkuang also secured all drawings and plans, which have enabled it to use this new technology across China. In the meantime, the industry giant has built several coking plants at various locations on the basis of the Kaiserstuhl model, each of which is capable of an annual production capacity of two million tons of coke and is thus making a significant contribution to covering the growing demand for coke in China and throughout the world.
