IOC 2025 Platinum donor
HBIS Serbia, established in 2016, is part of the global HBIS Group, one of the world’s largest steel producers headquartered in the People’s Republic of China. The company’s steelmaking facilities are located in Smederevo, where iron, steel, as well as hot-rolled and cold-rolled products—coils and sheets—are manufactured. The production facility for tinplate is located in Šabac.
With a designed annual capacity of 2.2 million tons of finished products and approximately 5,000 employees, HBIS Serbia is a key driver of industrial development in Serbia and a reliable partner to the domestic economy.
Since acquiring the Smederevo Steel Mill, the company has become a symbol of China-Serbia cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative and a bearer of the concept of “steel friendship.” The 2016 visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping was a strong impetus for development, job preservation, and initiating an investment cycle that reversed previous negative business results.
Since 2016, HBIS Serbia has continuously invested in modernizing and automating its processes, achieving historic production records within the first two years of operation. The company has become Serbia’s largest exporter and consistently ranks among the country’s top three exporters, making a significant contribution to Serbia’s GDP.
HBIS Serbia is a socially responsible company, firmly dedicated to improving working conditions, the quality of life in local communities, and environmental protection. Constant focus is placed on reducing the plant’s environmental impact, advancing green transition, and improving energy efficiency. Over the years, the company has invested more than €300 million in environmental protection, primarily in large-scale projects launched in 2019 and commissioned in 2022. Investments continue.
It is already clear that the second phase of plant modernization will take place between 2027 and 2030, in which the plant’s operation and energy efficiency will be further improved, and environmental protection will be raised to even higher level.
These improvements will strengthen production capabilities, enhance business performance, and further reinforce HBIS Serbia’s commitment to social responsibility and environmental sustainability. The company is firmly on a path toward an energy-efficient and sustainable future, aiming to reduce its carbon footprint in line with the best available technologies, with a clear vision — to become one of the most competitive steel plants in Europe.
HBIS Serbia has a long-standing, productive partnership with the Technical Faculty in Bor, University of Belgrade. Students regularly participate in one-day professional practice sessions to learn about modern processes in ferrous metallurgy, while company representatives actively contribute to scientific conferences such as IOC, EcoTER, and the Conference on Minerals, through expert presentations and research papers. HBIS Serbia’s collaboration with the academic community spans decades, and in 2024 a significant milestone was achieved with the establishment of the Virtual Green Steel Manufacturing Laboratory — a joint project between the Institute for Materials in China and the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy at the University of Belgrade. Three projects were launched to develop new steel grades with improved properties and stronger market potential. After a year of intensive work, all projects were successfully completed and validated by all partners. In the second phase, currently underway, the laboratory is taking on new development tasks aimed at further improving processes and products in line with the principles of sustainable production. The following projects are oriented towards “green” steel manufacturing.