Hitachi Metals: Rebuilding the Specialty Steel Business Brand Pursuing Solution-based Sales in the Global Market

Hitachi Metals, Ltd. (TOKYO:5486)(ISIN:JP3786200000) will reconfigure the Yasugi Specialty Steel brand in our specialty steel business and will communicate this and expand sales directed at global growth from October 2015 onward.
We will enhance the value of the brand by providing solutions to customers and communicating the value and innovativeness of Yasugi Specialty Steel and clearly spelling out the value and potential that it provides to customers so that Hitachi Metals will be chosen as the "first partner” by customers worldwide.

1. Vision Targeted by Rebuilding the Brand
Our goal is to achieve global growth of our specialty steel business by developing a growth strategy in components for aircraft and power plants as the next cornerstone of business in addition to tool steel, industrial materials, and electronics. One of the main steps we are undertaking to achieve that is to expand sales of tool steel in the European and American markets. The brand strategy is a particularly important means to achieve that.
The new brand statement declares that we will provide value to customers that is completely different from that provided by other companies, and the differentiated brand will be an important means for increasing the level of name recognition in the global market. We have therefore engaged in repeated discussions from the perspectives of the market, our customers, and the company in formulating the brand. The brand clearly delineates the spirit of "Integrity creates beautiful steel,” the motto of the Hitachi Metals Yasugi Works, which we have fostered over many years, the will incorporated in that, and the determination to provide value to our customers. It does not constitute a simple change in the logo design; it will serve as the banner under which we will foster trust in the tool steel of Hitachi Metals.
The basic value of Yasugi Specialty Steel which lives, not only in tool steel, but in an extensive array of products, is that it remains unaffected by changing times and trends. We will weave that sense of value and principle into the actions of each and every person as we rebuild the brand anew, and will strive to earn the trust of our customers and to increase that value.

2. Future Expansion
From October 2015 onward, we will redesign the brand logo, and update the catalogs, advertising, and other forms of communication media to align these with the brand image. We also plan to build a website for the specialty steel business by the end of 2015.
The Surface Modification Group, which is the R&D production location for tool steel surface treatment technology (Matsue, Shimane Prefecture), will be reformed as the "Solution and Engineering Center,” and used as the location for embodying the value of Yasugi Specialty Steel. We will offer, not only quality, but solutions that will help to meet the many needs and resolve the many issues of the finished products produced by our customers.

We will continue to galvanize business activity in the global market and enhance the brand value so that we will be chosen as a "first partner” by customers worldwide.

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