Stock News: Luzhou forms 70 mln yuan jv with China's Sichuan Jin Tai

Luzhou Bio-chem Technology Ltd said it has agreed to form a joint venture (jv) company with China's Sichuan Jin Tai Bio-Chem Co Ltd. The venture will have proposed registered capital of 70 mln yuan. Under terms of a deal between the two firm's, Luzhou will take a 51 pct stake in the jv by investing 35.7 mln yuan while Jin Tai will hold the balance with a 34.3 mln yuan investment. The venture will operate a corn sweetener production plant, starting the second quarter of 2007, which will have annual production capacity of 140,000 tons. "The new plant will enable the group to extend its market reach to cover China's south-western region, including Chengdu and Chongqing," Luzhou said in a release. Luzhou currently operates four production facilities in China, with total production capacity of 650,000 tons per annum. This is set to expand to 940, 000 by the second quarter of 2007 with a new facility in Shandong Province and its new plant in Sichuan province.