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New-year greetings from the President of Tokyo Boeki Steel & Materials in 2013

Tokyo Boeki Steel & Materials Ltd
President & CEO: Masayoshi Tanaka

I would like to wish everybody a happy new year.
2013 is the Year of the Snake in the traditional 12-year cycle of animals in the Japanese zodiac. This suggests that we are going to have a year of renewed growth just like snakes’ molting. The foreign currency and the stock exchange markets have been shifting favorably since the birth of the LDP-led government. The Abe Administration is trying to change the country by adopting the reflation policy. They are aiming at changing Japan, which has not been able to overcome the deflation after the Lehman shock. I believe that this is the first step toward stronger Japan.

In addition, when I spent the beginning of this year in Tokyo, I felt again that Japan is a great country, the safest and the most comfortable place to live in the world. We must keep such a wonderful country, strong Japan to the next generation. We, ourselves, should contribute to Japan. Each employee must break his or her shell, molt and contribute to building a stronger company by reform. I believe this is the way to make everyone’s life richer and happier

Looking back last year, the world economy was in a difficult situation because of the recurrence of the European debt crisis and the slowdown in emerging economies including China. The Japanese economy had been expected to recover due to reconstruction demand, however it experienced further slowdown due to such issues as the appreciation of the yen and the conflict over the Senkaku Islands.

Although the world economy was in prosperous conditions for the five years between 2003 and 2007 thanks to the rapid growth of the Chinese economy, it experienced severe recession between 2008 and 2012 following the Lehman shock. However, at the end of last year, the President Obama was reelected in the United States, and some of the principal nations saw the political change of power including China, South Korea and Japan, and the Abe Administration started. Following the expectations for the economic policies of the new administration, the average stock price in Japan has exceeded 10,000 yen, which is the highest level since the day before the Great East Japan Earthquake. The Bank of Japan will change its policy in the near future. It is also expected that China will spend around one trillion Yuan in order to boost its economy, and we are now seeing sign for brighter economic conditions around us. And the five-year cycle theory suggests that things will turn better after the Chinese New Year 2013.

In the fiscal year 2013, recognizing that we are in the second year of the Mid-term management plan, we will make efforts to improve the earning rate by innovating the existing commercial rights, cultivating new markets, carrying out structural reforms and modifying our business model from agency-oriented to operation-oriented one. We will establish a hub in Indonesia and form a system that will control Asia and Oceania markets in order to differentiate Tokyo Boeki Steel and Materials Ltd, and to concentrate on the expansion of new Asian emerging markets, especially Indonesia, India and Myanmar. I would like to ask you to strengthen the cooperation among departments and overseas bases, to try to differentiate our company and to do your best for developing new markets.

Last of all, I would like to finish my New Year speech by wishing all of you and your family a new year filled with happiness.

*This message was addressed to all officers and employees by President & CEO Masayoshi Tanaka on January 4, 2013