We are extremely proud to announce the first issue of JFE Technical Report, which we are publishing in order to provide technical information from JFE Group companies under JFE Holdings whose operation started in September 2002, to customers, engineers and researchers in related fields. The businesses of the JFE Group include not only our core steel and engineering businesses, but also a wide range of others which stretches from urban development to semiconductors, environmental solutions and recycling. JFE Technical Report aims the presentation of the results achieved in each of these fields to the world in a timely manner.

   The corporate vision of the JFE Group is "to contribute to society with the world's most innovative technology. "   For a technology to contribute to society, the technology itself must be outstanding, but above all, it must meet the needs of society and can be used by large numbers of people.

   Technical excellence alone does not guarantee acceptance. It would be impossible to list all the examples of outstanding technologies which failed to win any place in the world, and of course, many technologies have been rendered obsolete by progress in technology. Hence, it is essential for companies to continue to develop new technologies which are needed by the world. This is the role of technical development.

   The JFE Group conducts research and development in order to respond to social needs such as reducing environmental loads and ensuring safety, and to meet the requirements of industrial customers which include new product development and improved cost performance. Up to the present, research and development in the JFE Group has enjoyed the cooperation of a large number of persons. In particular, in product R&D, we are confident that joint development with customers will lead to major breakthroughs. We therefore intend to put increasing effort into this in the future.

   It is our sincere hope that the information presented in the new JFE Technical Report will be useful for further promoting this type of development activity in the JFE Group.