Kobe Steel Ltd. on Tuesday said it has reached an agreement with U.S. Steel Group to jointly research and develop high-tensile steel sheets used for automobiles.
The major Japanese steelmaker said in a press release that it hopes the agreement will "allow U.S. Steel and Kobe Steel to further expand their value-added products and more effectively serve the automotive marketplace."
The U.S. steelmaker is a unit of USX Corp., a major producer of oil and natural gas and the largest U.S. integrated producer of steel products.
The studies will be conducted mainly at Kobe Steel's research facility in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, and at a U.S. Steel center in Monroeville, Pa. The pact grew out of the success of PRO-TEC Coating Co., a joint firm set up in Ohio in 1990 by the two companies on an equal basis.
Kobe Steel has given its technology for high-tensile steel to PRO-TEC and U.S. Steel.
The statement says that Kobe Steel's expertise in this area is renowned because Japanese automakers rate their products highly.
The wide-ranging agreement foresees additional technology transfers between the two companies.