Jiji Press Daily Japan Business News Briefs (July 13)

NIPPON STEEL, ARCELOR MITTAL CONFIRM GLOBAL ALLIANCE–Nippon Steel Corp. and Arcelor Mittal SA have broadly confirmed their global strategic alliance and agreed to consider expanding current joint operations in North America, the Japanese firm said.

Nippon Steel, the world’s second largest steelmaker, and Arcelor Mittal, the largest, will continue the previous global alliance formed by Nippon Steel and Arcelor SA before Arcelor was acquired by Mittal Steel Co. last year. The two sides will study a plan to expand their joint production of automobile steel sheets in North American, while confirming the continuance of projects conducted under the previous alliance.

NOMURA SECURITIES TO OPEN 3-D VIRTUAL WORLD OUTLET–Nomura Securities Co. said it will open an online outlet in a three- dimensional virtual space called “Second Life.”

The outlet, called “Nomura Cube,” will be located on Bizisland, where Japanese firms run their virtual outlets. Through the Cube outlet, Nomura will hold virtual investment seminars, among other activities.

SAPPORO IN TALKS WITH WAL-MART ABOUT BEER SUPPLY–Sapporo Holdings Ltd. , which owns beer-making unit Sapporo Breweries Ltd., has started negotiations with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of the United States to supply its beer to the world’s largest retailer, informed sources told Jiji Press.

Through envisaged deals with Wal-Mart, which operates over 4,000 stores in the United States, Sapporo hopes to attract demand from U.S. households. The company plans to boost annual sales of its beer in North America to 15 million cases by 2012, up 9-fold from sales in 2006. One case contains the equivalent of 20 633-milliliter bottles.

SOJITZ TO ENTER NUCLEAR REACTOR DECOMMISSIONING BIZ–Sojitz Corp. said it will enter the nuclear reactor decommissioning business by acquiring a stake in French robotics company Cybernetix.

The Japanese trading house will pay 200 million to 300 million yen for 7.1 pct of Cybernetix.

Sojitz and Cybernetix will set up a joint company in Japan to provide nuclear reactor dismantling services and supply remote control devices.

TOYOTA UPS 2007 CHINESE SALES FORECAST TO 450,000 UNITS–Sales of Toyota vehicles in China, including imports, are expected to surpass 450,000 units in 2007, the chief local representative of Toyota Motor Corp. said.

The figure marks an upward revision to Toyota’s initial sales target of at least 400,000 units. The popularity of the Camry sedan released in the middle of last year is believed to have led to the higher estimate. In 2006, Toyota’s sales in China came to a little over 300,000 units.END

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