※This is a machine-translated text of the original article.

Four companies, Nippon Steel Corporation and its subsidiary Nippon Steel Metal Products Co Ltd, Kobe Steel Ltd and its subsidiary Kobelco Engineered Construction Materials Co Ltd, announced a basic agreement to integrate Nippon Steel Metal Products’ road-related business and Kobelco Engineered Construction Materials’ business.

The four companies said that they intend to consolidate them on April 1, 2021, and will proceed with examinations of specific conditions for these businesses.

According to the announcement, in the environment surrounding the road-related business, the investment in road construction continues to decrease along with the continuous shrinkage of public investment.

Further scaling-down due to declining population and other factors is expected in the future, and in the medium-to long-term, further deterioration in the business environment of road-related businesses is expected to be unavoidable.

In light of this challenging business environment, after repeated discussions among the four companies, the management resources of both Nippon Steel Metal Products and Kobelco Engineered Construction Materials were integrated.

The company says that it will proceed after discussions between the four companies regarding the specific conditions of integration.

The joint venture will become a consolidated subsidiary of Nippon Steel Metal Products and become an equity-method affiliate of Kobe Steel.

Original Text: https://ampmedia.jp/2020/03/05/nipponsteel-2/