18th September, 2012 JFE Shoji Trade Corporation

JFE Shoji Acquires Additional Equity in the Sonoma Mine Project

JFE Shoji Trade Corporation (President: Mikio Fukushima), has made the decision to acquire an additional equity stake in the Sonoma Mine Project, in which the company currently holds a 5% stake through its initial investment in the project in 2007 through its subsidiary, JS Sonoma.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (Head Office, Cleveland, USA), a partner in the Sonoma Mine Joint Venture, recently reached agreement to sell its full 45% participating interest in the Sonoma Mine to QCoal Pty Ltd (Head Office, , ). JFE Shoji, through its initial investment, retains a “pre-emptive right” over its share of Cliffs’ share in the Sonoma Mine and following consideration of the terms of the sale, has made a decision to exercise this right. JFE Shoji’s pro-rated equity percentage under the pre-emptive right will be 4.5%, taking JFE Shoji’s total participating interest in the project to 9.5% following successful completion of the pre-emptive right process.

The Sonoma Mine is an open cut mine, located in the northern part of the world’s largest hard coking coal producing region, the in the State of . The mine commenced production in 2007 and currently produces a total of 3.5 million tonnes of hard coking coal and thermal coal per annum.

Through this additional investment, JFE Shoji will contribute to the increasing the percentage of the JFE Group’s raw materials sourced from captive mines. Furthermore, through the strengthening of our relationship with fellow Joint Venture partner QCoal, we will seek to reinforce our sales of coal to other countries and expand our company’s coal business.

Original Participating Interest Participating Interest following Cliffs Sale JFE Shoji Trade Corporation 5.0% 9.5% QCoal Pty Ltd (Australia) 45.0% 85.5% Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (USA) 45.0% 0.0% China Steel Corporation (Taiwan) 5.0% 5.0%

【Overview of the Sonoma Mine】 1. Location ： Bowen Basin coalfields in Queensland, Australia 2. Coal Produced ： Coking Coal (Hard Coking Coal), Thermal Coal 3. Mining Method ： Open Cut 4. Shipping Port ： Abbot Point Bulk Coal Terminal in Queensland, Australia 5. Operations Commenced ： 2007 6. Annual Production (Clean Coal) ： Approximately 3.5 million tonnes

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【Overview of QCoal Pty Ltd】 1. Company Name : Q COAL PTY LTD 2. Head Office : Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 3. Established : 1989 4. President : Christopher Wallin 5. Business : Mining, Exploration

※JFE Steel Corporation holds a 20% stake in QCoal’s Byerwen Coal Mine Project.

【Overview of China Steel Corporation】 1. Company Name : China Steel Corporation (Listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange) 2. Head Office : Kaohsiung, Taiwan 3. Established : 1971 4. President : J.S. Tsou 5. Business : Steel Production

【Overview of JFE Shoji’s Coal Mine Projects in Australia】

★Annoucement★ Sonoma （Hard/Thermal) Coppabella・Moorvale (PCI/Thermal) ◆Abbot Point Carborough Downs ◆DalrympleCodrilla Bay (Hard/PCI) (PCI) ※ Joint Investment with ◆Gladstone JFE Steel Co. Baralaba・Wonbindi (PCI/Thermal)

Integra (Semi Hard/Semi Soft/Thermal) ※ Joint Investment with JFE Steel Co.

Oakbridge ◆ （Semi Soft/Thermal） ◆Port Kembla

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