Japan-based steel giant Nippon Steel Corporation and Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc. of the same country has announced that they have reached an agreement with Nigeria-based steelmaker Midland Rolling Mills Limited in regard to equity investment in this company by means of a capital increase through third-party allotment
A Nippon statement said that according to the agreement, each Japanese steelmaker is to respectively invest US$3 million in Midland which manufactures and sells cold rolled steel in Nigeria under management of SAFAL Group, a steelmaker active in sub-Saharan African countries.
Midland, which is the first company to install a cold rolling mill in Nigeria, has completed trial runs, with commercial production expected to start in January 2011.