TOKYO(May17,2002)--Concerning consolidation of their steel products business, Nissho Iwai Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation have reached final agreement to establish Metal One Corporation in January next year, through the spin-off of their steel products operations.

Since the commencement of discussions about consolidation of the steel products operations in January last year, both companies have been preparing for the establishment of the new company with a targeted time frame of October 2002. However, the scheduled establishment date was changed to January 2003 to allow for a testing period for system integration.

In October, as originally scheduled, the steel products divisions of both companies will be relocated to a new office at the "Celestine Shiba Mitsui Building", located in Shiba 3-chome, Minato-ku. Both will carry out their operations separately, as Mitsubishi and Nissho Iwai, for the subsequent three months until the establishment of the new company.

The company name "Metal One Corporation" was decided on after inviting opinions, mainly from those involved in the steel products operations of both companies. The name "Metal One" was chosen in accordance with the spirit of the new company as being invocative of the message "Working in a body towards the goal of becoming the number one company, both in name and in reality."

The outline of the new company is as follows: