Reception Held in Brazil to Celebrate Launch of Solutions Usiminas	From Value One Winter 2009-2010 No. 27

Usiminas' Affiliated Service Centers Now Merged

President Matsuoka giving a speech at the reception

President Matsuoka chatting with senior officers of Usiminas

On November 12, a reception was held in São Paulo to celebrate the launch of Soluções em Aço Usiminas (Solutions Usiminas), a steel products service center jointly established by Metal One and Brazil's Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais S.A. (Usiminas), one of the biggest integrated steelmakers in South America. At the party, Metal One was represented by Naoto Matsuoka, president & CEO; Terumitsu Kiba, managing executive officer; and Masakazu Okamura, chief regional officer of South America, among others. Representing Usiminas was Marco Antonio Castello Branco, president & CEO, and other senior officers. The reception was a gala event attended by some 500 people from the Japanese and Brazilian sides. At the party, President Castello Branco and President Matsuoka gave speeches to mark the occasion.

Last December, Solutions Usiminas merged service centers affiliated with Usiminas, namely, Fasal S.A., Zamprogna NSG Tecnologia do Aço S.A., and Usimpex Industrial S.A., and the company's Usicort industrial plant. At the core of this merger is Rio Negro Usiminas S.A. (formed through the merger of Rio Negro Comercio e Industria de Aço, S.A. and Dufer S.A.), in which Metal One has a capital stake. Consisting of 14 mills of Usiminas' affiliated service centers, Solutions Usiminas is a huge steel distribution group with a workforce of approximately 2,800 and an annual processing capacity of 2 million tonnes. Taking advantage of the synergies created from consolidating management, the new company will meet the increasing steel demand in the automotive and other sectors in the high-growth Brazilian market. Co-owned by Usiminas (68.9%), Metal One (20%), and Mr. Johannes Sleumer (11.1%), Solutions Usiminas is headed by Mr. Luiz Migliora, former president of Rio Negro Usiminas, as president and Mr. Kioi Yamada, former general manager of the Automotive Steel Products Business Department of Metal One, as standing executive officer.