TOKYO – JFE Steel Corporation (President: Hajime Bada) and Hyundai HYSCO (Vice Chairman: Kim Won-Kab) today renewed their comprehensive collaboration agreement to ensure stable supplies of high-quality automotive steel sheets to South Korean automakers.

Under the agreement, which was first formed in December 2000, JFE Steel has supplied Hyundai HYSCO with hot coil and manufacturing technology for cold-rolled steel sheets used in automaking. This win-win relationship to ensure stable supplies of steel materials has become a model for JFE Steel’s other international strategic alliances. Today’s renewal was made in light of the positive results achieved in the past five years.

The alliance has enabled Hyundai HYSCO to stabilize production of high-value added, competitive automotive steel sheets to meet booming demand in South Korea. Annual sales grew from 1,386.0 billion won at the start of the initial agreement to 2,319.8 billion won in fiscal 2004. The amount of hot coil from JFE Steel expanded from 500,000 tons/year to 800,000 tons/year over the same period.

The renewal of the agreement testifies to the alliance’s importance with regard to the ongoing development of both companies, and affirms that JFE Steel will continue to supply hot coil (approximately 800,000 tons/year) and technical assistance.

Yesterday, December 13, officials of both companies attended a ceremony at JFE Steel’s West Japan Works (Kurashiki) to commemorate the shipment of a total of 5 million tons ^*1) of hot coil to Hyundai HYSCO.

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