Kobe Steel and Mitsubishi Form Copper Joint Venture

Kobe Steel and Mitsubishi Materials Corp have agreed to form a joint venture which will see them combine their copper tube businesses. The joint venture will become effective on April 1, 2004. Kobe Steel will own 55% of the joint venture with Mitsubishi Materials Corp owning the balance.

The new joint venture will operate in Japan and the south east Asian region.

Included in the agreement are Kobe Steel’s Hatano plant in the Kanagawa Prefecture and Mitsubishi’s Kitamoto plant in the Saitama Prefecture. Other businesses to become subsidiaries of the joint venture include:

• Kobe Steel’s Hatano Pipe Center Co. Ltd
• Kobe Steel’s Kobe Copper (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd
• Mitsubishi’s MMC Copper Tube (Thailand) Co. Ltd.

Copper tube is mainly used for air conditioners, heat exchangers, hot water supplies and some other general uses.

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