DJ Nippon Steel To Buy ArcelorMittal Stake In Chinese Venture -Nikkei
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Nippon Steel Corp. (5401.TO) will raise its equity stake in a Sino-Japanese-Luxemburgian joint venture from 38% to 50%, the Nikkei reported in its Wednesday evening edition.
Nippon Steel Baosteel-NSC/Arcelor Automotive Steel Sheets Co. (BNA) was established in partnership with Baoshan Iron & Steel Corporation (Baosteel) of China and Luxemburg´s ArcelorMittal, the world´s largest steelmaker. Baosteel has a 50% stake, while ArcelorMittal owns 12%.
All parties have agreed to Nippon Steel buying ArcelorMittal´s share. The Japanese firm will buy BNA shares from its Luxemburgian partner as soon as it gets approval from Chinese authorities.
Since it began production in March 2005, BNA has supplied automotive steel sheets to Chinese and European carmakers, as well as Japanese firms such as Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO) and Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO).
In 2010, BNA turned out about 1.8 million tons of cold-rolled steel sheets. BNA and Baosteel control roughly 50% of the Chinese automotive steel sheet market.
With demand brisk for steel sheets in China, Nippon Steel hopes to boost its profits from its Chinese operations.