HG Metal and Novo Group forms JV with subsidary of Korea’s largest steel mill - POSCO

• POSCO is one of the 5 producers of “offshore grade” steel products in the world

• JV forms Singapore’s first vertically integrated supplier of high grade steel product

Singapore, 1 June 2009 – POSCO Steel Service & Sales Co., Ltd. (“Posteel”), HG Metal

Manufacturing Limited (“HG Metal”), and Novo Group Ltd. (“Novo Group”) is pleased to

announce that they have entered into a Joint Venture (“JV”) agreement to form POS-SEA Pte. Ltd.

(“POS-SEA” or the “Newco”) to sell and market quality “off-shore grade” steel products to the offshore

oil & gas and shipping industries. POS-SEA will be Singapore’s first vertically integrated

supplier of high tensile steel products and will benefit from the consistent supply from its parent

company, POSCO - one of the five producers of “offshore grade” steel products in the world today.

Combined with NOVO Group’s global trading network and HG Metal’s warehousing capabilities and

local network, POS-SEA is set to be a leading total solutions sourcing provider of high grade steel to

South East Asia market.

The initial issued capital of the Newco is US$2.0 million, with Posteel holding 51% of the equity

interest while HG Metal and Novo Group will each hold 24.5% of the equity interest.

Mr Jeung Jun-Yang, President of Posteel

Offshore structures are in general built for the drilling of oil and gas from natural deep-sea resource

deposits. Hence, steel used for such structures are required to ensure greater safety from failure.

As a subsidiary POSCO, the world’s third largest, and Korea’s largest crude steel producer in terms

of capacity, the Newco will be able to provide outstanding product quality, reliable service and

flexibility.

POS-SEA will supply steel plates for all structures, such as module walls, topside hulls, FPSOs, and

jack-up rigs. Recognizing that oil & gas projects require ongoing support, project management

services will be in place to ensure delivery of large complex contracts, while logistics and

warehousing services will complete the total solutions package offered to customers. POS-SEA will

provide a unique service package which is economically attractive to the demands of customers in

the offshore oil & gas and shipbuilding industries. .

“Posteel and HG Metal have been our good business partners through the years. Working

assurance of quality steel products for POS-SEA. ”

Mr Dicky Yu, Executive Chairman of Novo Group

 

To shorten the Newco’s start-up time and to facilitate logistics and warehousing services, POS-SEA

will currently operate out of the leased premises from HG Metal’s new warehouse facilities at Jurong

Port Road.

 

“POS-SEA will act as a trading company providing a fast-track service by leveraging on the

professional partners of the JV.”

Mr Wee Piew, CEO of HG Metal

 

According to Mr Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), oil will

remain the world’s main source of energy for many years to come, even under the most optimistic of

assumptions about the development of alternative technology. But the sources of oil, the cost of

producing it and the prices that consumers will have to pay for it are extremely uncertain. “One thing

is certain”, stated Mr. Tanaka, “while market imbalances will feed volatility, the era of cheap oil is

over”.

The prospect of accelerating declines in production at individual oilfields is adding to these

uncertainties. The findings of an unprecedented field-by-field analysis of the historical production

trends of 800 oilfields indicate that decline rates are likely to rise significantly in the long term, from

an average of 6.7% today to 8.6% in 2030. “Despite all the attention that is given to demand growth,

decline rates are actually a far more important determinant of investment needs. Even if oil demand

was to remain flat to 2030, 45 mb/d of gross capacity – roughly four times the current capacity of

Saudi Arabia – would need to be built by 2030 just to offset the effect of oilfield decline”, Mr. Tanaka

added.1

 

“We still expect the mid to long term demand for steel from the oil and gas industries to

of rig and shipbuilders in the long run. ”

Mr Shin Jong-Sik, Managing Director of POS-SEA

 

--The End—

 

POSCO’s own trading arm, Posteel is a specialized steel export company that exports products by POSCO and other

steel manufacturers within POSCO Group.

POSCO operates as an integrated steel producer in Korea. The Company manufactures and sells a line of steel products,

including hot rolled steel products used for general structures, home appliances, shipping containers, vehicles and

automobile parts; cold rolled steel products, which are used for manufacturing refrigerator doors, drums, furniture,

automobiles and spring houses, and stainless steel products, which include austenite system type, ferrite system type,

mertensite system type and dual system type used for automotive exhaust systems, kitchenware and consumer

electronics. It also provides other products, including steel plates used for shipbuilding, civil engineering and construction

industries, wire rod products used to make screws and nails, and electrical steel products used in electric motors and

transformer cores.

Posteel also supplies high-quality steel products to a clientele of domestic small to medium-sized companies. POSCO

products are sold primarily to the Korean market, with domestic sales accounting for 66.2% of its total sales volume of

steel products during 2007. The Company’s export sales and overseas sales to customers abroad, during 2007,

accounted for 33.8% of its total sales volume of steel products. POSCO’s major export market is Asia, with China

accounting for 29.4%, Japan 19.7% and the rest of Asia 19.5% of its total steel export sales volume during 2007.

Among the main export product lines manufactured by POSCO, are carbon steel hot rolled and cold rolled steel products,

galvanized iron, electric-galvanized iron, electrical steel sheets, and stainless steel. Non-POSCO products include color

steel sheets, aluminum-coated steel sheets, stainless steel, special steel bars, wire rods and steel reinforcing rods.

You may also visit the Company’s website at http://www.posteel.co.kr

1 For more information, please refer to IEA press release,

http://www.iea.org/Textbase/press/pressdetail.asp?PRESS_REL_ID=275

4

Established in Hong Kong in 2005, Novo Group Ltd is a global steel industry supply-chain management company that

provides support services to upstream and downstream stakeholders throughout the value-chain, from demand

aggregation and disaggregation to logistics, trade financing, inspection services and shipping. Novo counts iron ore mines,

integrated steel mills and re-rolling mills, major stockists and end-users as amongst its stakeholders. Steel products traded

by Novo include raw materials such as iron ore, scrap; semi-finished products such as billets and slab; finished products

such as deformed bars, wire rods, tubes, sections, angles, channels, hot rolled coil, hot rolled plate, cold rolled coil, cold

rolled sheet; as well as coated steel and special steel items.

Novo Group has now successfully footprint its presence in various sectors of the steel value chain across the world, from

global trading to domestic distribution in China, now further enhance its presence in SE Asia in the supplying of steel

plates for structures and high end oil pipes for oil and petroleum industry thru the establishment of this joint venture.

You may also visit the Company’s website at http://www.novogroupltd.com

HG Metal is a premier stockist and manufacturer of steel products. With more than 30 years in the steel business, HG

Metal offers more than 2,000 different types of steel products of various dimensions for a wide variety of industrial and

engineering applications. With their “one-stop supermarket” strategy, HG Metal is able to satisfy the needs of their

customers with one visit to their extensive stockyard and manufacturing facility.

HG Metal has also differentiated itself from its peers in its strategic move to custom-manufacture steel products. HG Metal

currently manufactures customized flat steel bars in a wide variety of engineering processes and mild steel lip channels

commonly used as roofing support in commercial and industrial buildings. The Directors believe that HG Metal is the only

steel stockist in Singapore with such manufacturing capability. This gives HG Metal a distinct competitive advantage

against their competitors, as they can fulfill their customers’ requirements more quickly and completely, especially for

specifications that are not readily available in the market.

You may also visit the Company’s website at www.hgmetal.com

The Board of Directors of HG Metal Manufacturing Limited (the "Company", and together with its

subsidiaries, the “Group”) wishes to announce that the Company has on 1 June 2009 entered into a

Joint Venture Agreement (“JVA”) with Posco Steel Service & Sales Company Limited (“Posteel”)

and Novo Commodities Pte. Ltd. ("NC"), pursuant to which the parties will incorporate a new

company in Singapore (the “Newco”).

Posteel is a company incorporated in Republic of Korea. It is principally engaged in the business of

distribution of and sales of various kinds of high-quality steel products around the world.

NC is an investment holding company incorporated in Singapore. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of

Novo Group Ltd., a company incorporated in Singapore and listed on the Singapore Exchange

Securities Trading Limited.

The Newco will have an initial issued share capital of US$2,000,000 divided into 2,000,000 shares.

The shareholding interest of NC, Posteel and the Company in the Newco will be 24.5%, 51% and

24.5% respectively. The Company shall subscribe for 490,000 ordinary shares in the NewCo at an

aggregate consideration of US$490,000.

After such subscription of shares in the NewCo, the NewCo will become an associated company of

the Company. The Newco will be engaged in the procurement of high-grade and high value steel

products and materials for sale to buyers in Singapore and South East Asia in order to provide end

users with a wide range of materials.

The proposed transaction will be funded through internal sources and is not expected to have a

material impact on the earnings per share and the net tangible assets per share of the Group for the

current financial year.

None of the Directors and controlling shareholders of the Company has any interest, direct or

indirect, in the above transaction.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD