JFE Steel Corporation announced it has signed an agreement with its strategic partner, JSW Steel Limited, to provide manufacturing technology for the production of automotive steel in cold rolling mill 2 (CRM-2) at Vijaynagar, India, which is expected to start operations by autumn 2013.

Under the agreement, JFE Steel which has a 15% stake in JSW, will provide assistance to develop various grades of steel, including steel for external panels for automobiles in high strength viz JFE-HITEN, JAZ®, zinc-coated steel sheets with excellent lubrication etc, to meet the high end and diverse local demands from automakers with production bases in India.

JFE steel will also provide technical assistance for the operations of the 2.3 million tonnes per annum cold rolling mill (PL-TCM), 1.9 million tonnes per annum continuous annealing lines (CAL), and 400,000 tonnes per annum continuous galvanizing Line (CGL) at CRM-2. This fully integrated manufacturing facility will enable JSW to achieve its ultimate goal.

India’s automobile industry is expected to maintain a sustainable growth far into the future. The CRM-2 capacity will help JSW immensely to make a full-scale entry into the automotive steel market and expand steel sales. JFE steel will also strive to leverage its strategic collaboration with JSW Steel in providing steel products and pursue its growth strategy in the Indian automotive steel sheet market.