Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) has announced that it will optimize the domestic production system of the ERW pipe and tube business together with Nippon Steel & Sumikin Pipe Co., Ltd. (NSSP) to improve its service to customers and overall business performance.
NSSMC said that major points for improvement in the ERW pipe and tube business are the overlapping of products sold by the parent company and its subsidiary, and excess production capacity in Japan.
Under the agreed restructuring measures, NSSP's Kawasaki Works and Sakai Works will be shut down at the end of November 2015 and the end of August 2015 respectively, along with a 24-inch ERW pipe mill at NSSP's Wakayama works which is scheduled to be shut down at the end of the current year.