RNS Number:8518I
Kobe Steel Ld
18 March 2003

NEWS RELEASE

                                                                Kobe Steel, Ltd.
                                                         Shinko Pantec Co., Ltd.



Kobe Steel Group to combine environmental businesses


TOKYO (March 18, 2003) - Kobe Steel, Ltd. and subsidiary Shinko Pantec
Co., Ltd. today agreed to consider combining Kobe Steel's environmental business
and Shinko Pantec in January 2004.  This move would concentrate the management
resources of the environmental businesses of the two companies and further
strengthen and develop the Kobe Steel Group's environmental solutions business.
Plans call for the two companies to reach agreement on the basic conditions of
the consolidation in May 2003.



The consolidation is anticipated to be beneficial to the Kobe Steel Group's
environmental business. The expanded business will contribute to a more stable
and stronger base.  Orders are anticipated to increase through complementary
product menus and markets.  Development will also benefit from streamlined
research, as well as from higher development capabilities in new environmental
fields.  Finally, cost competitiveness is anticipated to improve.



Combining the strengths of both companies, the Kobe Steel Group is positioning
itself as a comprehensive environmental solutions company to meet the broad
needs of society.



Kobe Steel's Environmental Solutions Division in the Infrastructure and Plant
Engineering Company has an extensive supply record in waste treatment and
wastewater treatment.



In the waste treatment field, in particular municipal solid waste treatment,
Kobe Steel's broad menu covers pyrolysis melting furnaces, plasma melting
furnaces, fluidized-bed furnaces, stoker furnaces and refuse derived fuel
systems.  Kobe Steel has received high evaluations for the numerous plants it
has supplied throughout Japan.



In water treatment, Kobe Steel's strength is in sewage treatment and sludge
incineration, melting, and storage.  Kobe Steel has been developing advanced
sewage treatment technologies and commercializing a non-incineration sludge
reduction process, the RESER system, which contributes to reducing
carbon-dioxide emissions.  Already, Kobe Steel and Niigata Prefecture are
jointly conducting research on this process.

                                     -more-

Kobe Steel's new areas of undertaking include PVC recycling, soil
decontamination and biomass.



Shinko Pantec has a high record in the areas of water treatment and air quality.
The company is well regarded as a comprehensive engineering company for water
treatment plants and equipment.



In the water treatment field, Shinko Pantec provides the public and private
sectors with innovative technologies.  Examples include advanced treatment
(ozone and activated carbon); membrane separation and dewatering
(electro-osmosis); biological treatment and sludge reduction treatment for
sewage and industrial wastewater; leachate treatment based on membrane
technology; and ultrapure water generation equipment for the IT industry.



As for air quality, Shinko Pantec has supplied dust collection and clean
technologies to handle emissions from industrial production processes.



Shinko Pantec is also exploring new environmental businesses such as biomass for
waste food disposal and livestock waste treatment; a PCB treatment system; and
used fluorescent light disposal.



Demand has peaked for municipal solid waste treatment plants to meet stricter
dioxin regulations.  Public works remain generally low and the environmental
business has become increasingly severe.  In the mid- to long-term future,
demand for general and industrial waste treatment and water and wastewater
treatment is anticipated to grow as the social consensus to attain a richer life
in harmony with the environment increases.  Soil decontamination, PCB and dioxin
treatment, and resource recycling are becoming pressing issues in society.  In
creating a recycling society, the environmental market is anticipated to expand,
as will the need for flexible solutions.



To date, Kobe Steel's Environmental Solutions Division and Shinko Pantec have
pursued the environmental business on their own, as they each have specialized
menus for relatively separate markets.  However, to respond to a rapidly
changing market, the two parties decided to combine their technical
capabilities, marketing, and business know-how to grow the environmental
solutions business.  As societal needs increase and become more complex, the
future environmental market is expected to change and expand.





                                     -more-

Kobe Steel, Ltd.

President:           Koshi Mizukoshi
Head office:         Kobe, Japan
Established:         1911
Capitalization:      215.1 billion yen*
Employees:           9,674*
Sales:               793.9 billion yen*
(* Figures for fiscal 2001, ended March 2002)



Profile of Shinko Pantec Co., Ltd.

President:           Yasuaki Hirata
Head office:         Kobe, Japan
Established:         1954
Capitalization:      4 billion yen*
Employees:           734*
Sales:               34.4 billion yen*
(* Figures for fiscal 2001, ended March 2002)





                                     -end-





Media Contacts:
Gary Tsuchida
Communication Center
Kobe Steel, Ltd.
9-12 Kita-Shinagawa 5-chome
Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-8688
Japan



Tel +81-(0)3-5739-6010
Fax +81-(0)3-5739-5971
E-mail  www-admin@kobelco.co.jp
Web site:  http://www.kobelco.co.jp/index_e_wi.htm



Shinko Pantec Co., Ltd.
Tel  +81-(0)78-232-8018


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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