Nippon Steel to buy stake in POSCO steel mill in Vietnam

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) --- POSCO, the world's fourth-largest steelmaker, said Tuesday that its Japanese rival, Nippon Steel Corp., will buy a stake in its project to build a steel mill in Vietnam as part of efforts to boost their bilateral strategic alliance.

In a regulatory filing, POSCO said Nippon Steel will buy a stake of 10 to 20
percent in the US$490 million project to build a cold-rolled steel mill in the
Southeast Asian nation. The South Korean steelmaker did not elaborate on how much
the Japanese steelmaker will spend in purchasing the stake.
POSCO began construction in August at the Phu My industrial complex near the
southern Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh, and plans to complete construction of
the plant by 2009.
When in operation, the plant will produce 1.2 million tons of cold-rolled steel a
year, according to POSCO.
POSCO also plans to build another steel plant in the country, which will
eventually be able to produce 3 million tons of hot-rolled steel a year,
according to the company.