China's crisis-hit steel mills look overseas

Shanghai

LADEN with debt and struggling to make money as the world's No 2 economy loses momentum, China's steel mills do not appear obvious candidates for overseas expansion.

But the country's crisis-hit steel sector is calling for strong government backing for plans to ramp up foreign acquisitions, as it looks to escape weak demand-growth and soaring environmental costs at home.

In a draft of a revised restructuring plan for the industry issued late last week, Beijing included a line saying it would support mills' effor…