OREANDA-NEWS. March 23, 2011. We extend our heartfelt sympathy and condolences to all the people in any way afflicted by the recent earthquake in the Tohoku-Kanto areas and hope that they will be able to regain strength and normal life from the earliest possible recovery of the region.

Here is an update on our status of operations as of March 22, 2011.

Kamaishi Works:
ЃEAs to the whereabouts of the employees and their families of our company, our group-members and affiliates, we are still doing our utmost to locate them.
ЃEBecause part of the compound was flooded by tsunami, production is being suspended.
ЃEAbout damage to the port facilities, we have started an on-site survey with a view to rebuilding them.
ЃETo take over KamaishiЃfs production during the interim, we have started manufacturing Kamaishi orders at our other steelworks and group-member companies and making deliveries so that supplies to our customers can be ensured.


Kimitsu Works:
ЃEThe iron-making and steel-making processes have resumed operations, now reaching levels of production before the earthquake.
ЃEWith the acute power shortages in the whole Kanto area, we are operating our generating station (*) to its full capacity to permit a maximum supply of electricity to Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).
ЃEBecause of the general power shortage, some part of the rolling and succeeding processes is being operated with due consideration to power saving.

(*)Kimitsu Cooperative Thermal Power Company Inc., established in 1967 jointly by Nippon Steel and TEPCO, generates electricity using by-product gases from the iron-making process and supplies the electricity to the two companies.
Deliveries to the quake-stricken area:
ЃEAll our steelworks except for Kamaishi can deliver products without the slightest hitch.
ЃEFor the unloading ports in the Tohoku area, it might be quite a while before their reconstruction can be complete. We keep our eye on the state of progress in the recovery of the region and also in the resumption of production by customers, and, if necessary by taking alternative routes and conveyances, we shall be re-starting deliveries to them gradually.
ЃEFor the customers who wish to shift their manufacturing operation scheduled for one plant to another, we are prepared to discuss with them such locational changes.

Support to our alliance partner:
ЃEWe have already begun our maximum response to Sumitomo Metal IndustriesЃf request for support.

Nippon Steel and the group companies are committed to direct energy to repairing the damage to our facilities and the infrastructure. And fully aware of our responsibility to supply steel products needed for rebuilding the stricken areas and customersЃf resumption of production, we would like to contribute, in our own way, to the reconstruction of the whole nation.