Nippon Steel considers JV with Shanghai Baoshan

Nippon Steel considers JV with Shanghai Baoshan

Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel officials announced that they are in negotiations with major Chinese mill Shanghai Baoshan Iron and Steel to jointly make steel sheet for automotive industry in China. The target markets are Japanese and European automotive manufacturers producing in China. The project covers a joint venture to be established in Shanghai to build and operate a new cold rolled steel sheet plant. A respective agreement is set to be signed by both parties on July 22. The joint venture, intended to be controlled equally by both companies, is planned to start operation at the beginning of 2005. Estimated investment is around Yen 100 billion at the first stage ($850.3million).