A Japanese investor group consisting of JFE Steel Corporation, Nippon Steel Corporation, Sojitz Corporation and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation and a Korean investor group consisting of major Korean steel producer POSCO and South Korea's National Pension Service have entered into an agreement with the controlling shareholders of the Brazilian niobium company Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM) under which the Japan-Korea partnership will acquire a 15 percent stake in CBMM.
Niobium is a critical alloying additive in the production of high-grade steel products. As the most comprehensive supplier of niobium products in the world, CBMM is in a position to secure a continuous supply system of the metal as the need for high-grade steel products grows.
The four Japanese companies will acquire a 10 percent stake and the two Korean companies will buy a five percent stake in CBMM. The amount of the investment by the Japan consortium and the Korea consortium will be $1.3 billion and $650 million respectively, and each of the six consortium partners will indirectly hold a 2.5 percent stake in CBMM.
In addition to the acquisition of CBMM shares, JFE, Nippon Steel, POSCO and Sojitz have entered into a long-term niobium supply agreement with CBMM, assuring that the stable relationship these companies have long had with CBMM continues.