NSSMC-ArcelorMittal joint venture eyeing Japanese carmakers in USA

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“The new joint venture will have capability to meet the growing needs, especially from Japanese car manufacturers, for ultra-high tensile strength products with good formability, and hot rolled steel products including high tensile strength grades,” NSSMC said on Thursday February 27.

The $1.55-billion acquisition, which was announced in November, was completed on Wednesday February 26, ArcelorMittal said in a previous release.

Located in Calvert, Alabama, the 5.3-million-tpy hot strip mill will further enhance NSSMC’s capability to supply products to automotive customers in the USA, the Japanese steelmaker said.

The plant will add to NSSMC’s existing I/N Tek and I/N Kote cold rolled steel and coated products joint venture operations with ArcelorMittal in the US state of Indiana.

Both operations have “demonstrated good track records with various customers for more than 20 years”, NSSMC said.

Besides the hot strip mill, the Calvert plant also comprises a 1.1-million-tpy pickling line, a 2.5-million-tpy cold rolling mill, a 0.6-million-tpy continuous annealing line, and a 1.4-million-tpy hot-dip galvanizing line.