Nippon and SMI joint venture launched yesterday

Nippon and SMI joint venture launched yesterday

Japan's largest steel producers Nippon Steel Corp. (NSC) and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. (SMI) announced that they have launched their joint venture on October 1, 2003 as previously reported by SteelOrbis in June. This new joint venture, named as Nippon Steel Sumikin Stainless Corp.(NSSC), has an operating capital of Yen 5 billion and is expected to make profit in two years at earliest, due to delays in planned closures of operations in line with the venture move. According to industry reports, profit is expected to range between Yen 5-10 billion ($45-90 million) per year. NSC will hold 80% and SMI 20% of NSSC which was formed by integration of both companies' stainless steel operations.