Japan Steel Works Ltd., a nuclear parts supplier for customers from Areva SA to Hitachi Ltd., is considering tieups in Southeast Asia and India after the Fukushima disaster squeezed demand at home and in the U.S.
The company will have a tough time generating orders in the next two years, President Ikuo Sato said in Tokyo. Forging ventures to make valves, tubes and other smaller parts involved in nuclear reactor construction will help open export markets for key products, he said.
"If we're able to form such partnerships, it will be easier to enter such markets," Sato said. "It will be necessary for us to tie with companies" that are seeking to improve their access to technology.