On September 22, Japanese steelmakers Nippon Steel Corporation and Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. jointly announced that they have agreed to integrate their businesses on October 1, 2012, and have entered into a master integration agreement
Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metals executed an alliance agreement in 2002, however, they decided to turn this alliance into a business integration in February 2011 due to substantial changes in the recent business environment surrounding the steel industry, such as expansion of steel demand all over the world, intensified competition due to commissioning of new steel mills and increasing raw material prices.
According to the joint statement, the merger agreement is scheduled to be executed in April 2012 with merger. After the merger planned to be effective as of October 1, 2012, the company will be named "Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation".