Nippon, POSCO may expand alliance

Nippon Steel and POSCO are considering expanding their capital and business partnership due to the global realignment in the steelmaking industry. Nippon and POSCO have set up project teams and started discussing measures to bolster their alliance, but nothing has been decided yet. The two companies are considering co-developing mines in Australia and other areas as early as 2007, in addition to cooperating in transporting raw materials such as iron ore. They are also discussing strengthening their capital ties. Currently, Nippon Steel has a stake of just over three percent in POSCO, while POSCO owns slightly more than two percent of its Japanese counterpart.