TAIWAN steel company An Feng Steel Co Ltd and Australia’s Kingstream Resources NL signed a heads of agreement this week 10 years ago to develop a $1.4 billion Midwest Iron and Steel project in Geraldton. The agreement, witnessed by premier Richard Court, was for the production of 2.4 million tones of steel slab a year at Narngulu, near Geraldton, and provided for an equity participation of 70 per cent for An Feng and 30 per cent for Kingstream. An Feng also entered into a 10-year take-or-pay contract to buy Kigstream’s 30 per cent of the finished steel product. The investment of between $US1 billion and $US1.2 billion was the largest investment by a Taiwanese company in Australia. An Feng said in a statement that the project provided the company with a reliable and long-term source of high quality steel slab. The project was expected to employ up to 2,000 people during construction and about 350 permanent staff once operational. It is the first case of a Taiwanese steel company involved in an overseas steel investment project and is expected to encourage other companies to invest overseas.