The Rise of Du Shuanghua’s Rizhao Steel

As one of the most successful entrepreneurs in China, Du Shuanghua has amassed a sizable fortune as a national steel magnate. He is the creator of Rizhao Steel, one of the largest private steel manufacturers in the country.

The Birth of Rizhao Steel

Du Shuanghua considers the establishment of Rizhao Steel the most significant step in his long and illustrious career. He began working with the municipal government of Rizhao in China’s Shandong province in March 2003. His plan was quite straightforward: to build a large, state-of-the-art steel mill that would be the equal of any other in the world.

Within a few months, he and his partners had acquired a parcel of seashore land adjacent to both the China National Highway 204 and the Tongjiang-Sanya Expressway just 5 kilometers south of Lanshan Port and 35 kilometers north of Rizhao Port. Miraculously, his management team would erect the massive Rizhao Steel facility on this land and begin producing its first batches of metal in just 181 days.

Going from concept to full operation in less than a year, Rizhao Steel is a much-admired anomaly in the steelmaking industry. At the time, this outstanding metallurgy triumph received widespread recognition as “The Speed of Rizhao Steel.”

Rizhao Steel Evolves Over the Years

Rizhao Steel’s speed of creation was subsequently matched by its rapid rise to prominence. As a testament to the company’s unmatched efficiency, its business model was exceedingly simple: Import shiploads of raw materials (such as iron ore and PCI coal) and ship out finished steel products with a concerted attention to cost-effective logistics.

In 2013, Rizhao Steel invested in three new Arvedi ESP (endless strip production) plants, each of which has a capacity of 2.55 megatons per year. In 2014, the company established a pickling and galvanizing line from the international technology group Andritz AG that continues to produce 700,000 tons of galvanized steel annually.

The Rizhao Steel of Today

Over the years, Rizhao Steel has received a number of honors and accolades, including rankings by the China Enterprise Confederation & China Entrepreneurs Association among the Top 500 Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises, the Top 500 Chinese Private Enterprises, and the Top 500 Chinese Enterprises in general. It was also named the Most Competitive Chinese Steel-Making Enterprise by the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute (MPI).

As the company evolved, it became a highly integrated metallurgical leader, going beyond steelmaking to specialize in ironmaking, sintering, rolling, pellet, oxygen-making, and power generation. Its well-equipped facilities now manufacture and distribute alloy steel products, cold rolled sheet steel, steel plates, steel rods, steel wires, carbon structural steel, and other steel products throughout China.

The Rizhao Steel of today has never been more prosperous. The company’s current annual crude steel production capacity has expanded to 22 million tons.

One of Rizhao Steel’s most significant technical contributions to China’s steelmaking industry is its endless strip production (ESP) technology. The most advanced hot-rolled strip steel production methodology in the world, ESP enables Rizhao to produce hot-rolled strip steel plates with specifications of 0.6-6.0mm × 900-1600mm.

About Du Shuanghua

An exceptional entrepreneur, Du Shuanghua was born in 1965. A native of Beijing, he gained his firsthand experience as a metal industry worker when he was still a teenager, quickly rising through company ranks to serve as chief of a welded pipe factory mill in Sanhe County’s Hebei province.

In 1987, he established his first company, Hengshui Jinghua Steel Pipe Co., at just 22 years old. Located in the Hebei province city of Hengshui, this company laid the foundation for his exceptional future in the steelmaking business.

In the early 2000s, Du Shuanghua established a network of steel pipe manufacturing companies across China, starting facilities in Tangshan, Baotou, Laiwu, Guangzhou, and Chengdu. He subsequently merged all of these steel pipe manufacturing companies under an umbrella company called Jinghua Innovation Group Co., Ltd.

Beyond his ongoing professional success, he has made a positive impact on countless people through his various philanthropic activities. Although he maintains a specific focus on youth causes, he has also donated well over $150 million to charitable initiatives that range from earthquake rescue and medical care to education and poverty alleviation.