Nippon Steel to buy Thai steelmakers in deal worth up to US$763m

[TOKYO] Japan's biggest steelmaker Nippon Steel Corp will buy two electric arc furnace steelmakers in Thailand in a deal worth up to US$763 million, it said on Friday, as it seeks to cut its reliance on blast furnaces that use coking coal and emit carbon dioxide.

Nippon Steel will pay about US$300 million to buy stakes in Thai steelmakers G Steel and GJ Steel. The total cost of the acquisition will be up to US$763 million, a spokesperson told Reuters.

The company was in talks to buy a steel mill in Southeast Asia to secure iron-making resources in the growing market, a senior executive told Reuters in November.

REUTERS