Duesseldorf, Germany, June 8, 2000 - Today Aichi Steel established a European subsidiary here called Aichi Europe GmbH (Yuji Shibata, President). It will begin operations on August 1, 2000.

Aichi Europe GmbH, with capital investment of 100,000 euros or about 10 million yen, will import and sell hot and cold rolled special alloy steel. It will also conduct market surveys and collect information regarding special alloy steel all over Europe. The subsidiary will have four employees, including two Japanese expatriates and two local staff members. Planned sales volume for fiscal year 2001 is 2.2 billion yen.

The current Duesseldorf office will now be closed due to the establishment of Aichi Europe GmbH.