SP and NBC Thailand to Integrated Their Operations in January 2013

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal announced on 2nd, Steel Processing (Thailand) and Nippon Steel Bar＆CH Wire(Thailand), secondary processing bases of bars and wire rods of special steel in Thailand, will integrated their operations in January 2013. New company name is Nippon Steel & Sumikin Steel Processing (Thailand). Steel Processing (Thailand) was a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Industries and Nippon Steel Bar & CH Wire(Thailand) was a subsidiary of Nippon Steel. Group businesses will be integrated for the first time after Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal was born. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal plans to keep pace with automobile related demand expanding rapidly in Thailand by making management setup efficient.