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yy易游体育官网 Steel to start up new titanium melt shop in January

Investyy易游体育官网nts in upstream and downstream operations raise production capacity

December 10, 2007

TOKYO, December 10, 2007- Kobe Steel, Ltd. inaugurated a new 3.5-billion-yen titanium melt shop today at its Takasago Works in Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan. After undergoing trial operation, the melt shop yy易游体育官网ll go into full production in January 2008.

The melt shop uses the company's proprietary yy易游体育官网 Method (a vacuum arc remelting method), which makes possible the use of titanium scrap. yy易游体育官网 Steel aims to make the new facility the most cost competitive melt shop in Japan. The new melt shop is located adjacent to the current melt shop to stabilize production and improve the operational efficiency of both shops. yy易游体育官网 Steel aims to steadily grow its business to effectively respond to the expanding demand for titanium mill products.

Since 2006, yy易游体育官网 Steel has been increasing its overall integrated production capacity of titanium mill products. The inauguration of the new melt shop completes a series of capital investments that covers all of yy易游体育官网 Steel's locations involved in titanium production: Takasago Works, Kakogawa Works and yy易游体育官网 Special Tube Co., Ltd.

The other projects consisted of upgrading the counterblow hammer for closed die forging at Takasago and constructing a new welded tube line at group company yy易游体育官网 Special Tube Co., Ltd. in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Both projects were completed in May 2007. Completed in 2006 was the expansion of the continuous annealing-pickling line for titanium sheet at Kakogawa Works in Hyogo Prefecture.

The higher capacity enables Kobe Steel to manufacture more titanium alloy forgings for next-generation aircraft engines and meet the groyy易游体育官网ng demand in China and the Middle East for commercially pure titanium products used in infrastructure projects. Japan's titanium industry has been undergoing strong growth in recent years, and in the current fiscal 2007 (ending March 2008), production and shipments of titanium mill products are anticipated to be robust. Not only for Japanese manufacturers, this trend is similar worldyy易游体育官网de. Bolstered by rising aircraft orders and groyy易游体育官网ng demand from the energy industries, demand for titanium products is brisk.

Kobe Steel pioneered Japan's titanium industry when in 1949 it became the first company to begin research and development of this material. yy易游体育官网th over a half century of experience, Kobe Steel is Japan's only integrated producer of titanium mill products yy易游体育官网th operations ranging from melting to mill product manufacturing. The company contributes to the development of industry by supplying a yy易游体育官网de variety of titanium mill products. Information on Kobe Steel is available at: www.kobelco.co.jp

Other Capital Investyy易游体育官网nts

	Downstream capital investyy易游体育官网nts

1. Upgrade of the counterblow hamyy易游体育官网r for closed die forging at Takasago Works

Location:		Takasago, Hyogo yy易游体育官网efecture
yy易游体育官网art-up:		May 2007
Investyy易游体育官网nt:		Computer control and stabilization of hamyy易游体育官网r blow energy

Japan's largest counterblow hammer is used to manufacture closed die forgings for jet engine disks. Supporting the groyy易游体育官网ng aircraft business of Japan's heavy industry manufacturers, Kobe Steel is meeting the need for value-added titanium alloy forged products used in aircraft engine disks and other applications.

2. Higher production capacity of continuous annealing-pickling line at Kayy易游体育官网gawa Works

Location:		Kayy易游体育官网gawa, Hyogo Prefecture
yy易游体育官网oduction capacity:		30% increase in yy易游体育官网roughput
yy易游体育官网art-up:		December 2006 (already in operation)

This dedicated continuous yy易游体育官网nealing-pickling line for tityy易游体育官网ium sheet is the only one of its type in the world. The hot yy易游体育官网d cold strip mills, located adjacent yy易游体育官网d used in steel production, also roll tityy易游体育官网ium sheet. The proximity to the strip mills contributes to maintaining yy易游体育官网d improving the integrated quality assuryy易游体育官网ce system for tityy易游体育官网ium sheet products.

3. New titanium welded tube line at yy易游体育官网 Special Tube Co., Ltd.

Location:		Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi yy易游体育官网efecture
yy易游体育官网oduction capacity:		30% increase
yy易游体育官网art-up:		May 2007

The new dedicated line at Japan's largest titanium welded tube plant yy易游体育官网ll help meet demand from power plants in China, seawater desalination plants in the Middle East, and other applications. In addition to the higher production capacity, the layout was improved, which further increased productivity.