Sumitomo Metal Industries, Japan's third-largest steel maker has confirmed the cooperation with France Vallourec for a joint venture of seamless pipes in Brazil. The project is estimated to reach ￥200 billion investment.

The project started discussion from March and is set to start production by mid 2010 with capacity of 600,000 tons of seamless pipes per year and 1.0 million tons of crude steel.

Vallourec will take 56 percent the stake and Sumitomo hold the balance.