Anshan Iron and Steel is studying the feasibility of a USD2 billion steel plant in India to make 2 million to 3 million tons of steel a year in what would be the first move into the country by a large Chinese steel producer. President Zhang Xiaogang told the Financial Times that having an involvement in India – probably as part of collaboration with other steel producers – was part of his effort to make Anshan the “most competitive steelmaker in the world” over the next five to 10 years. “I feel that by collaborating with other companies we can both become more global and improve in terms of the efficiency of our operations,” said Zhang in an interview at a steel conference in Paris organized by the World Steel Association (WSA), of which he is poised to become the Chairman. He did not provide more details. Anshan is China’s seventh biggest steelmaker. Last year, China produced almost 630 million tons of steel – making the country the biggest steel producing and consuming nation with almost half of total world output. In contrast India – with a similar population to China – produced 67 million tons of steel in 2010. Anshan is already involved in plans in the U.S. to build at least four steel plants in collaboration with Steel Development, a start-up business. The first of these is due to be a USD150 million mill in North Carolina where Anshan would have a stake of about 15%, the Financial Times reports.