Mittal Steel and Nippon Steel have agreed to continue an alliance between Nippon Steel and Arcelor following Mittal’s acquisition of Arcelor, a report said.

Mittal Steel, the world’s biggest steel maker, recently mounted a successful $32 billion bid for Arcelor, creating a steel giant with a global market share of about 10 per cent and sending ripples through the steel industry.
The deal threw into question Nippon Steel’s tie with Arcelor, under which it provides the Luxembourg-based steel maker with technologies for high-grade sheet steel for automobiles. Arcelor sells the steel to Japanese car makers in Europe.
The alliance had a clause allowing either party to terminate the contract in case of a change of company control, and investors have been watching closely to see whether Nippon Steel would end the agreement as Arcelor’s high-margin car-steel business was seen as one of the great attractions for Mittal.
According to the Nihon Keizai business daily, Mittal chairman Lakshmi Mittal and Nippon Steel president Akio Mimura met in the western Japanese city of Kyoto and agreed to maintain the alliance even after Mittal’s acquisition of Arcelor.
The daily also said that Mittal and Mimura agreed to consider expanding on an existing joint automotive steel business in North America,  a deal that could include the construction of a new production facility to boost output.