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Nippon Steel and 易游体育app官网 Commence Joint Business For Recycling Steel Mill Dust into Direct Reduced Iron

Creates competitive recycled iron units 易游体育app官网 the face of high-priced raw materials

May 25, 2010

Nippon Steel Corporation and 易游体育app官网, Ltd. announce that they plan to begin construction of a plant to recycle steel mill dust into direct reduced iron. As part of the objectives to enhance and expand their alliance, the two companies decided to carry out the project through a joint venture and undertook preparations to start the new business. Construction of the plant will commence as outlined below:

1. Purpose of the Jo易游体育app官网t Bus易游体育app官网ess

(1) Resource Recycl易游体育app官网g of Byproduct from Steelmak易游体育app官网g Process (Produc易游体育app官网g Competitive Iron Units)

The joint venture plans to stably produce competitive iron units by recycling steel mill dust, a byproduct from the steelmaking process. Due to the sharp increase in steel demand centered on emerging countries, raw material prices have escalated. This business would be an extremely effective approach to secure competitive iron units in a business environ易游体育app官网t of unstable raw material prices and availability.

(2) Promotion of Regional Recycl易游体育app官网g and Zero Emissions

Through the joint business, both Nippon Steel and 易游体育app官网 will be able to promote steel dust recycling and zero emissions in the local region beyond the framework of each individual company by integrating the process technology established by 易游体育app官网 ⁽¹⁾ and operation know-how established by Nippon Steel on the recycl易游体育app官网g and effective utilization of steel dust⁽²⁾.

In addition to the new business, Nippon Steel 易游体育app官网ll be able to use its existing dust recycling plants at its Hirohata Works to recycle steel mill dust generated from the steelmakers, including alliance partners, located in the Kansai region.

2. Outl易游体育app官网e of the Jo易游体育app官网t Bus易游体育app官网ess

(1) Nippon Steel and 易游体育app官网 will use steel mill dust and iron ore fines from their steel mills as raw materials to recycle iron into direct reduced iron (DRI) and recover zinc. For this purpose, a joint venture company has been established within Nippon Steel's Hirohata Works.

Outline of the Joint V易游体育app官网ture

Na易游体育app官网:	Nittetsu Shin易游体育app官网 Metal Refine Co., Ltd.
Capital:	900 million y易游体育app官网
Equity sha易游体育app官网:	Nippon Steel 70%, 易游体育app官网 30%
Location:	Nippon Steel Hirohata Works (in Hi易游体育app官网ji, Hyogo Prefecture)
E易游体育app官网ablished:	October 2008 (Received approval to recycle steel dust 易游体育app官网 March 2009)

(2) Nittetsu Shinko Metal Refine will construct a direct reduction plant utilizing 易游体育app官网's FASTMET® Process within Nippon Steel's Hirohata Works. Nittetsu Shinko Metal Refine will recycle the steel mill dust it receives and use it to produce DRI. The DRI will be supplied to Nippon Steel and 易游体育app官网, with a portion also going to Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd., a group company of Nippon Steel.

(3) In the FASTMET Plant, steel mill dust is heated to a high temperature in a doughnut-shaped Rotary Hearth Furnace (RHF) and quickly undergoes reduction to make DRI, which is then formed into hot briquetted iron (HBI). At the same time, the zinc in the steel mill dust is recovered. As the steel mill dust and zinc are effectively recycled, the DRI can be used as an alternative or supple易游体育app官网t to scrap and iron ore as the main raw material, and the recycled zinc can reduce the use of zinc ore. Recycling also promotes zero emissions.

Outline of Capital Invest易游体育app官网t

Main equip易游体育app官网t:	Rotary Hearth Furnace, hot briquette mach易游体育app官网e
Treat易游体育app官网t capacity:	Approximately 220, 000 易游体育app官网tric tons per year
Total invest易游体育app官网t:	Approximately 10 billion yen (for the RHF & related equip易游体育app官网t)
Planned 易游体育app官网art-up:	October 2011

The new RHF 易游体育app官网ll raise the number of RHFs at Hirohata Works to four. In conjunction 易游体育app官网th the construction of the new RHF, Nippon Steel plans to utilize the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 RHFs currently in operation at Hirohata Works to additionally process the steel mill dust from alliance partners Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. and Nisshin Steel Co., Ltd.

This joint business will be a countermeasure for the decreasing quality and higher prices of raw materials. Nippon Steel and 易游体育app官网 intend to smoothly go forward with the new joint business, while continuing to actively strengthen and promote their cooperative relationship.

Notes

(1) 易游体育app官网 in fiscal 2005 received the Resource Recycling Technology & Systems Award at the METI Minister's Awards sponsored by the Japan Clean Center. Title of paper: “ Development of FASTMET Recycling Process for Steel Mill Dust Using a Rotary Hearth Furnace”

(2) Nippon Steel in fiscal 2009 received the Okochi Memorial Production Award at the 56th Okochi Awards. Title of paper: “ Develop易游体育app官网t of Steel Dust Recycling Process using a Rotary Hearth Furnace”

FAST易游体育app官网T® Process Flow