Joint Study on Nippon Steel’s Participation in POSCO’s New Cold-Rolling Mill in Vietnam

Nippon Steel Corporation
POSCO

Nippon Steel Corporation (principal place of business: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President: MUNEOKA Shoji, “NSC”) and POSCO (principal place of business: Pohang, Korea, Chairman: LEE, Ku-Taek), since the signing of the agreement on strategic alliance and mutual shareholding in August 2000, have pressed ahead various cooperative measures under the agreement.

In October 2006, the companies agreed to enhance the strategic alliance, including the additional share purchase mutually in the value of \\55 billion for each, and have since implemented specific additional measures, such as mutual supply of steel slabs.
In October 2007, the companies entered into definitive agreements to establish a joint venture company regarding DRI (direct reduced iron) supply for both companies and the dry-dust recycling.

Now, to enhance the strategic alliance further, the companies commence the joint study on NSC’s participation in the new cold-rolling mill in Vietnam, being constructed and owned by POSCO.


Outline of New-Cold Rolling Mill in Vietnam
Name: POSCO-Vietnam Co., Ltd. (currently 100% owned by POSCO, established in November 2006)
Major Facilities:
TCM(Tandem Cold-rolling Mill) :1.2 million tons/year,
CAL(Continuous Annealing Line):0.7 million tons/year
Shareholding by NSC: to be studied in the range of approximate 10-20%
Total Investment: approximate ￥52.8 billion
Location: Southern part of Vietnam (80 km from Ho Chi Minh City)
Scheduled Commissioning: September 2009

Both companies have already co-invested in cold rolling mill in Thailand, operated by The Siam United Steel (1995) Co., Ltd.

For more information, please contact:

NSC: Public Relations Center, General Administration Division
Tel: 03-3275-5021 - 5023
POSCO JAPAN: Tel: 03-3546-1212