(Yicai Global) March 12 -- Electrical equipment maker Qingdao Hengshun Zhongsheng Group Co. has partnered up with two other companies to set up a stainless steel supply chain fund and import nickel ore from Indonesia.

The firm has teamed up with an asset management firm and supply chain manager affiliated with one of the world's largest container carriers COSCO Shipping Development Co., it said in a statement yesterday. The trio will set up a CNY2-billion (USD315-million) fund to run for five years.

Hengshun Zhongsheng has substantial reserves of nickel ore, one of the core raw materials used in stainless steel, in Indonesia. Stainless steel is in high demand in equipment making, automobiles, kitchenware and other sectors, and China's rising consumer demand and manufacturing industry have boosted its consumption.

The fund will help Hengshun Zhongsheng foster reliable partnerships with up- and down-stream businesses along the supply chain and bring its nickel into the Chinese market, the statement added.

The State Grid Corp. of China and Shandong Electric Power Co. founded Hengshun Zhongsheng in 1998. The unit specializes in equipment manufacturing and set up a resource development subsidiary in Indonesia in 2013, which has acquired several nickel and manganese mines in the country.