Through a joint venture called Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products LLC, the three companies will be better able to meet the growing market for automotive aluminum forgings in North America. Kobe Steel will have a 60% share in the joint venture, Mitsui 25% デュエルビッツ 入金不要ボーナスoyota Tsusho 15%. The new company, to be based in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA, will be capitalized at million.

Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products will have a production facility and an office building totaling 108,000 square feet (10,000 sq m) on 32.6 acres (130,000 sq m) of land. The plant will have continuous casting equipment, 6,300-ton mechanical forging presses, and heat treatment equipment. Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products is expected to employ 78 people. Total investments are anticipated to reach .7 million.

Construction of the facility is scheduled to begin next month and production is anticipated to begin in June 2005. The new company will market its products to U.S. automakers and Japanese transplants. Annual sales are forecast to reach million in 2006, the second year of operation.

Kobe Steel, which has a roughly 90% share of the Japanese market for aluminum forgings for automotive suspensions, will be responsible for the manufacturing, quality assurance and business aspects of the joint venture. Trading firms Mitsui デュエルビッツ 入金不要ボーナスoyota Tsusho will market the products to U.S. automakers and Japanese transplants.

Fitted with more safety devices and options, cars have been growing heavier. At the same time, they need to be lighter to help meet environmental regulations. Automakers are using increasing quantities of lighter parts, one of which is aluminum forgings for suspension systems. With the market forecast to grow, situating a manufacturing facility in the United States is anticipated to stimulate new demand in North America.

Japanese automakers use domestically produced aluminum forged parts in suspensions, but have been increasing their global procurement of parts. In manufacturing world cars, they are increasing their local sourcing of parts both in Japan デュエルビッツ 入金不要ボーナスhe United States.

Following these market changes, Kobe Steel concluded that a production base in North America would be essential to meet the increasing need for aluminum forged parts from not only Japanese automotive transplants, but also the U.S. automakers.