Nippon Steel Does Business With Toyo Kohan

Nippon Steel and Toyo Kohan announced on Wednesday they reached an agreement of business tie-up to strengthen competitive power of both firms. They will promote their share acquisition at 600 million yen at maximum each other by the end of April toward smooth promotion of the tie-up. Nippon Steel’s stock acquisition is equal to about 1.2% of the stocks that are already issued by Toyo Kohan in the current stock level.The two makers promote cost reduction in procurement of raw materials and distribution of goods, cost saving of production and distribution by effective utilization of production equipment, mutual technical development of the materials for steel cans, and offshore businesses.They will discuss concrete measures for the business collaboration throughout establishment of the committee for promotion of their cooperation to deal with fluctuations in steel demand and international fiercer competition among steel makers in the future.Nippon Steel and Toyo Kohan are rival makers of tin and tin-free steel. On the other hand, Toyo produces surface treated steel sheets and procures hot coils of the materials of the products. Furthermore, the parent company of Toyo is Toyo Seikan Kaisha, the major case maker. It is also a major customer to Nippon Steel.