Been There,

You said;

"Its not clear who the standstill agreement is binding on. My grammatical read of the sentence is that they Baosteel has been granted a standstill agreement which would imply that it limits what NOT can do."

That could possibly mean that NOT cannot enter discussions with somebody else until May 2, 2013 and that may be exactly what NOT wanted. They can concentrate their efforts on the company's corporate strategic plan rather than discussing options with someone other than the early partner that they have already chosen. Or, it may not mean that at all...just a thought.