DUISBURG, Germany, Aug 28 (Reuters) - German steel and engineering group ThyssenKrupp AG said on Thursday it was setting up a raft of new factories in China to cater to auto manufacturers in the world's fastest growing car market.
It will establish three new factories in China with local partner ANSC Angang New Steel Co. to build tailored blanks -- laser-welded sheets of metal used by manufacturers to form car parts such as doors and floor panels.
Ulrich Jaroni, the board member at ThyssenKrupp Steel with responsibility for the auto division, said the company would invest between 25 and 30 million euros ($27-32 million) in each of the plants.
"Current forecasts suggest annual growth in the Chinese car market of around 12 percent to 6.9 million cars by 2008," Jaroni told a news conference. "We follow our global customers to their production facilities all over the world."
European carmakers led by Volkswagen and PSA Peugeot-Citroen have been pouring cash into China to take advantage of the booming market, and Japan's carmakers have also begun to join the party.
ThyssenKrupp -- the world's biggest stainless steel producer -- recently set up a tailored blank site in the central city of Wuhan, and said it now planned similar sites in Shanghai, Guangdong and Changchun, where Volkswagen, Toyota , and Mazda are expanding capacity.
Fellow German car parts maker Continental -- which specialises in high-margin electronics -- is also looking to take advantage of China's growing car market. Its chief executive has said he is actively looking for a Chinese partner.
ThyssenKrupp said it was also lifting capacity at its tailored blanks factory in Duisburg-Huettenheim, Germany, investing 55 million euros to double capacity and create 100 new jobs.
The group is in the middle of a revamp aimed at cutting debt and increasing profitability. It has said its automotive business will be one of its key growth pillars, lifting sales to 10 billion euros by 2006/2007 from 6.3 billion last year through organic growth and acquisitions.