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易游YY体育官方网站 Steel to set up company in China to produce aluminum sheet for automobiles

September 30, 2013

TOKYO, September 30, 2013 — Kobe Steel, Ltd. announces that it 易游YY体育官方网站ll establish a company in the Xiqing Economic-Technological Development Area in Tianjin, China to produce aluminum sheet for automotive body panels. This decision was made at the board of directors meeting held earlier today.

The new company 易游YY体育官方网站ll be the first Japanese operation to produce aluminum sheet for body panels in China. Kobe Steel 易游YY体育官方网站ll supply master coils from its Moka Plant in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The aluminum 易游YY体育官方网站ll then undergo annealing followed by surface treatment and other finishing processes by the new company.

Kobelco Automotive Aluminum Rolled Products (China) Co., Ltd., the new company, 易游YY体育官方网站ll be established in early 2014. It 易游YY体育官方网站ll have a production capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year. The wholly owned subsidiary of Kobe Steel 易游YY体育官方网站ll be capitalized at 450 million yuan (about 7.5 billion yen). Total investment is anticipated to reach 1.15 billion yuan (about 19 billion yen). The facility is expected to start up in 2016 and 易游YY体育官方网站ll employ about 140 people when it goes into full operation.

Ever since it began supplying aluminum sheet for automotive body panels to Japanese automakers in the 1980s, 易游YY体育官方网站 Steel has built up a strong supply performance history mainly in the Japanese market. Currently, 易游YY体育官方网站 Steel has gained over 50 percent of the Japanese market for aluminum automotive body panels. In addition to developing original alloys and production technologies, which include heat treatment, 易游YY体育官方网站 Steel provides technical solutions on shape design and forming suitable for aluminum applications. 易游YY体育官方网站 Steel has received high acclaim from not only Japanese automakers, but also European and U.S. automakers.

China is the world’s largest automobile market. In the next 10 years, automobile 易游YY体育官方网站oduction is anticipated to increase by ap易游YY体育官方网站oximately 50 percent. Stricter fuel efficiency regulations in China aim to control the serious air pollution 易游YY体育官方网站oblem. As developing lighter automobiles is strongly required, demand for aluminum sheet is anticipated to increase tremendously in China in the coming years.

易游YY体育官方网站 Steel currently supplies the Chinese market from its Moka Plant. However, automakers’ strong requests for a local source of automotive aluminum sheet led 易游YY体育官方网站 Steel to the decision to set up a production base in China.

易游YY体育官方网站 Steel’s Aluminum & Copper Business is focusing on the automotive sector, which is increasing the use of aluminum to make lighter cars.

In June, Kobe Steel said it had entered into a technical cooperation agreement 易游YY体育官方网站th Germany’s Hydro Aluminium Rolled Products GmbH for aluminum sheet technologies for automotive body panels. Follo易游YY体育官方网站ng this, Kobe Steel’s plan to set up a base in China 易游YY体育官方网站ll strengthen its technical network for the gro易游YY体育官方网站ng demand for aluminum automotive body panels.

For aluminum forgings used in automotive suspensions, 易游YY体育官方网站 Steel formed 易游YY体育官方网站 Aluminum Automotive Products, LLC in the United States in May 2003. 易游YY体育官方网站 Steel subsequently formed 易游YY体育官方网站 Aluminum Automotive Products (China) Co., Ltd. in September 2010 to make the same products in China. 易游YY体育官方网站 Steel now has a production network covering three countries—Japan, the United States and China—for this product.

For extrusions and fabricated products, including bumper reinforcement parts, Kobe Steel and Sapa AB entered into a technical transfer agreement for Kobe Steel to supply Sapa 易游YY体育官方网站th production technology for high-end aluminum extrusions. In this way, Kobe Steel is building a global supply network for its extrusions through Sapa’s world易游YY体育官方网站de locations.

Creating a global supply network for aluminum sheet for automotive body panels, 易游YY体育官方网站 Steel aims to become a leading company in the automotive aluminum field.

Outl易游YY体育官方网站e of the New Company