JFE Steel to Establish Pre-Coated Steel Sheet JV in China

JFE Steel announced on Thursday the firm establishes a pre-coated steel sheet production joint venture in Jiangsu Province of China with JFE Shoji Trade Corporation, JFE Group’s trading company, and Suzhou HeSheng Special Material, Chinese pre-coated steel sheet manufacturer. The plant will start operation in March 2012 with new production facilities of 60,000-tonne annual output capacity.

In China, demand for pre-coated steel sheet is increasing, mainly adopted to home appliances and construction materials. JFE Steel aims to enter strongly growing Chinese market while Suzhou HeSheng Special Material plans to enhance high grade products by taking in Japanese steel makers’ technology.

They will establish a joint company in May 2011. The capital fund is 100 million yuan (approximately 1.262 billion yen), 86% share is controlled by Suzhou HeSheng Special Material, 10% by JFE Steel and 4% by JFE Shoji Trade Corporation. The joint company will produce and process pre-coated steel sheet.