Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel has announced that it will open a marketing company for welding consumables in Busan, South Korea from July this year.
Kobe Steel established Kobelco Welding Marketing of Korea Co., Ltd. (KWMK) in April of the current year. Capitalized at KRW 800 million (about JPY 58 million), the joint venture is 51 percent owned by Kobe Steel. Kobe subsidiary Kobe Welding of Korea Co., Ltd. (KWK) has a seven percent share, Japanese trading firm Shinsho Corporation has a two percent stake, and South Korean trading firm McQAN Corporation holds 40 percent. KWMK employs eight people.
Kobe Steel has been steadily increasing sales of welding consumables in South Korea through McQAN Corporation, which serves as its distributor. When Kobe Steel in 1995 formed Kobe Welding of Korea, which produces and markets flux-cored welding wire for mild steel, it was unable to take full ownership of the unit. Through the cooperation and support of McQAN, however, Kobe Steel was able to establish KWK, which has been steadily expanding its business.
KWK and McQAN have been marketing Kobe Steel's welding consumables to Korean shipbuilders. To the nuclear industry, LNG tanks and other energy fields, export sales from Japan have been mainly handled by McQAN.
The new marketing company, KWMK, will enable Kobe Steel to build an efficient and effective marketing network in South Korea, as well as further strengthen ties with major customers and secure a large sales volume.