Officials have backed a deal Nippon Steel and Sumitomo

Japanese officials positive about the merger of local steel companies Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Industries. It is reported Dow Jones. "This merger is a strategic step to enhance competitiveness in the global market, and we tell him" yes "- said the Cabinet Secretary of Japan Yukio Edano. In turn, the country's finance minister Eshihiko Noda said: "I see this as a solution to management about" globalization "of activities." Recall that a Japanese steel company Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal to merge. It is assumed that this transaction will be the first major consolidation in the steel industry in the country over the past 10 years. According to estimates of the parties, the transaction will be completed by October next year. The merger holdings formed steel giant, which will annually produce 47.8 million tons of steel. Thus, the new company will become the second largest steel producer in the world, conceding the primacy of the corporation "ArcelorMittal". The Japanese company Sumitomo Metal is one of the largest metallurgical concerns of the country. "Nippon Steel Corp." considered the largest in Japan and the world's leading steel company. Ministry of Industry