Queensland-based China Magnesium Corp (CMC) has launched a $12 million initial public offering to help bring a magnesium plant in China back into production as demand for the commodity, widely used in the automobile industry, continues to grow.

The plant, in the Shanxi Province of northern China, is currently on care and maintenance. CMC plans to upgrade the plant following the IPO and return it to nameplate capacity of 5000 tonnes a year of magnesium.