Mittal, Nippon Steel to sign partnership deal: Paper

Tokyo, June 26: Arcelor Mittal and Nippon Steel Corp. will ink a new partnership agreement next month on technology transfer and capacity expansion at their joint ventures, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

Mittal Chairman Lakshmi Mittal and Nippon Steel President Akio Mimura will meet in New York next month to sign the deal, the Nikkei said.

The two firms have been talking about the pact since last July after Mittal bought Arcelor, Nippon's strategic partner in Europe, in an unfriendly bid to create the world's biggest steel maker.

A Nippon Steel spokesman declined to comment on the report.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported in May the two top executives are engaged in tough talks over conditions for using Nippon Steel's car sheet technology, one of the Japanese company's strongest competitive points.

Mittal asked to use the technology globally, but appears to have eventually agreed to utilise the know-how only in Europe, NHK reported.

Mittal is pushing into the high-end, automotive sheet steel market in Brazil, where Nippon's affiliate Usiminas is expanding production.

Reuters>