MITSUBISHI MATERIALSCopper & Copper Alloy Business

MITSUBISHI MATERIALSCopper & Copper Alloy Business

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Mitsubishi Shindoh signed Licensing Agreement with Kitz Metal Works
for Use of Lead-Free brass ECO BRASS® Series Patents

Mitsubishi Shindoh Co., Ltd. (President: Kazumasa Hori; capital: 8.7 billion yen; "Mitsubishi Shindoh") signed a licensing agreement for the use of its ECO BRASS® Series patents by Kitz Metal Works Corporation (President: Takaoki Nakajima; capital: 490 million yen; "Kitz Metal Works"), a major supplier of brass bars.

The ECO BRASS® Series are lead-free brass products, offering improved machinability without the addition of lead. Mitsubishi Shindoh signed an agreement licensing Kitz Metal Works to use patents relating to the ECO BRASS® Series. In addition to regular ECO BRASS®, the patents covered by the agreement also include the highly-corrosion resistant ECO BRASS® ECO-CR, which is now ready for mass production, and high-strength ECO BRASS®, which is currently under development.

ECO BRASS® Series are global-use materials, which are registered under the Japanese JIS, European EN and United States ASTM standards. ECO BRASS® is supplied in Europe by Wieland-Werke AG, and in the United States by Chase Brass and Copper Company, LLC. Cumulative worldwide sales reached 300,000 tons in May this year, equating to a total reduction of 9,000 tons in lead usage, which has contributed to reducing environmental impact. In preparation for the anticipated increase in demand for lead-free brass that will accompany the toughening of environmental regulations in Japan, Mitsubishi Shindoh and Kitz Metal Works will produce ECO BRASS® Series products in Japan, and distribute them widely within the market by supplying them to their respective customers.

Mitsubishi Shindoh aims to become the leading business group committed to creating a sustainable world through materials innovation using unique and distinctive technologies for people, society and the Earth, in accordance with its long-term management policy. It will continue to contribute to society through product development based on original technologies.

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