July 24, 2007

JV Contract Signed with Kubota in India

On July 20, Metal One Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; president: Moriji Kanada) formally agreed to establish a joint venture in India to manufacture and sell ductile iron pipes for use in waterworks. Metal One's partners in this investment are Tata Metaliks Limited (headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal; managing director: Harsh K Jha), which is a subsidiary of Tata Steel Limited (one of the core enterprises in the Indian conglomerate Tata Group), and Kubota Corporation (headquartered in Naniwa-ku, Osaka; president and representative director: Daisuke Hatakake). President Jha, President Hatakake, and the Steel Products for Energy Industries Division COO Hiromi Fujikawa signed the basic agreement on July 20.

Kubota has been expanding operations in overseas markets, where growth is anticipated, to develop and expand ductile iron pipe production operations. For that purpose, Kubota aims to start a business promptly in India by providing the expertise necessary for plant construction and ductile iron pipe manufacturing in the new joint venture. The new joint venture will manufacture and sell ductile iron pipes in India's domestic market, where rapid economic growth has created a pressing need for waterworks and sewerage. In addition, the new joint venture will handle exports to the Middle East and Southeast Asia, where demand connected to the provision of water-related infrastructure is flourishing, and Metal One will be actively involved in sales of the new Indian joint venture's pipes along with existing Japanese products.