China Railway United Logistics Co., Ltd. (hereafter called "CRUL")is one of leading state logistics and trading companies and establishedmainly by railway forwarders with branches all over China. Hence CRULhas a born and unparalleled advantage on bulk cargo trading involvedwith railway transportation in China and is in the unique position ofbeing able to offer an integrated range of services linking producersand customers, which it refers to as CRUL's "value chain". This"value chain" is a one-stop package of integrated capacitiesavailable under one roof. CRUL manages and participates in every stagealong the value-added chain - from sourcing to shipping to storing todistributing to sale. CRUL imports iron ore, manganese ore and some other relevant raw materials from other countries' mines, delivers it to steel mills and alloy plants in the Chinese mainland for conversioninto downstream products, and then exports the converted products suchas coke, pig iron, silicon manganese ferrous alloy to mills or plants outside China. We are always keeping good relations with many big steel mills andalloy plants in China and have successfully signed Exclusive AgencyAgreements to buy iron ore, manganese ore and other relevant rawmaterials for them the next year (2005). In order to satisfy ourclients' demand stably, we hope to sign long-term purchase contractswith reputable and competent mines, for example contracts for the wholeyear of 2005.
