Sichuan Province-based Chinese
stainless steel producer Southwest
Stainless Steel, along with
Japan-based Sumitomo Corporation and
Nippon Steel & Sumikin
Stainless Steel, have inked a joint investment agreement to set up a new company to produce cold rolled
stainless steel sheet in Nantong in
China's Jiangsu Province, as reported by Chinese and Japanese media sources. This will be
Nippon Steel's first cold rolled
stainless steel sheet joint venture to be set up overseas.
Accordingly, the companies will invest a total of RMB 1.5 billion ($238 million) in the project, the annual production capacity of which is expected to reach 200,000 mt. The production line, which is due to be put into production in June 2014, will mainly produce 0.3-3 mm cold rolled
stainless steel sheet. The annual sales revenue of the new facility is expected to exceed RMB 5 billion ($793.65 million).
China's Sichuan Southwest
Stainless Steel Co. will own a 40 percent stake in the new company, while the Japanese companies
Nippon Steel and Sumitomo will hold 25 percent and 35 percent stakes respectively.