JFE invests in steel plant for car sector

Japan's second largest steelmaker, JFE Steel, is to form a US$179m joint venture with Guangzhou Iron & Steel. The companies will build a plant capable of producing 400,000 tonnes of hot-dip galvanised steel sheets for carmakers in southern China. JFE will take a 49 per cent stake in the venture, which should start operations by April 2006.

The announcement was made shortly after Nippon Steel and Baoshan Iron & Steel agreed to form their own venture making steel plate for the car industry.