Re: Definitive agreements signed on acquisition of interests in， and joint development of， the Beas

Nippon Steel Corporation (President: MIMURA Akio) has reached a final agreement with the Rio Tinto Group (headquartered in London and Melbourne， Chief Executive: Leigh Clifford) and others to acquire an interest (28.2%) in， and to jointly develop， the Beasley River deposits owned by Hamersley Iron Pty Limited (”HI”)， an Australian iron-ore producer and member of the said Group.

Specifically， Nippon Steel， Mitsui & Co.， Ltd. (President: UTSUDA Shoei， ”Mitsui”)， and Sumitomo Metal Industries， Ltd. (President: SHIMOZUMA Hiroshi， ”Sumitomo”) will form a partnership named Beasley River Iron Associates (”BRIA”， Nippon Steel 60%， Mitsui 20%， Sumitomo 20%)； and BRIA and Beasley River Mining Pty Limited (”BRM”)， a 100% subsidiary of HI， will participate in the Beasley River Joint Venture (BRIA 47%， BRM 53%).

A definitive contract has also been signed for the long-term sale and purchase of iron ores from the existing Yandi Mine (totaling approximately 150 million tons， FY2004～2025: 7 million tons as the base tonnage， for a term of over 20 years) and support for future expansion of the mine.

The foregoing are the result of Nippon Steel and Rio Tinto’s joint studies according to the ”Basic Agreement on Comprehensive Alliance” (announced in April 2004). Also according to this basic agreement， both companies have already concluded final agreements on ”Combination Transport of Brazilian Iron Ores” (announced in June 2004) and ”Acquisition of Interests in Hail Creek Joint Venture (for metallurgical coal) in Australia” (announced in July 2004). Nippon Steel believes these final agreements on iron ores will greatly enhance procurement stability of major raw materials. In the long term， both companies intend to further strengthen their relationship through technical exchanges to effectively utilize inferior grades of ores， for example. Nippon Steel’s acquisition of interests and development investment in the Beasley River mine will be implemented through its wholly-owned subsidiary， Nippon Steel Australia Pty Limited (headquartered in Sydney).

In addition， Nippon Steel， Mitsui and Sumitomo have also reached a final agreement with the Rio Tinto Group on common usage of the infrastructure (rail， port and power plants) respectively owned by Robe River Joint Venture (established by the three Japanese companies through their respective Australian subsidiaries and the Rio Tinto Group) and owned by HI. This agreement has come out of the intensive discussions held among the parties according to the ”Basic Agreement on Common Usage of the Robe River Infrastructure with Rio Tinto” (announced in January 2004). Nippon Steel has every confidence that the greater efficiency made possible by the common usage of infrastructure will allow it to better respond to growing iron-ore demand around the world， mainly in China， and in turn contribute to Japan’s procurement of iron ores.