Japan-based trading company Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) has announced that by merging its four existing subsidiaries for steel products - Mitsui Bussan Construction Materials Co., Ltd., Sintsuda Corporation, Mitsui Bussan Plate Processing Corporation, and Mitsui & Co. Stainless and Special Steel Ltd. - it will establish a new subsidiary company called Mitsui & Co. Steel Ltd. (MBS), which will engage in the trading, marketing and distributing of steel products in the Japanese domestic market. In the first phase of the investment, the total paid-in capital is Yen 2 billion ($16.9 million); however, in the forthcoming years this figure is expected to be increased up to Yen 10 billion ($84.5 million).
Competitive cost structure and maximum efficiency are regarded as being among the most significant objectives behind the establishment of MBS. The new company's CEO will be Takaharu Tannai, the current chief operating officer of the Iron & Steel Products Business Unit of Mitsui, while a total of 570 job opportunities are to be created. The streamlining measures are to be implemented by April 1, 2008.