China steel firm axes Indonesian nickel project

A $500 million nickel pig iron project planned for Indonesia has been scrapped, a senior official at Shanghai Tsingshan Mineral Company Ltd, the majority partner in the venture, said on Thursday. The deal had fallen through because the local government wanted to take back mining rights, Jiang Xinfang, president director of Tsingshan, a subsidiary of the country's top private stainless steel producer Tsingshan Holding Group.