The International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) and 10 member companies have signed an agreement to launch a five year, 14 million programme designed to increase the use of steel in construction by up to 10% over the next five years.

The leaders of seven steel companies met in London on Friday 11 February 2005 to formally sign the agreement. Signing the agreement in London were Arcelor, BlueScope Steel, CELSA, Corus, Mittal Steel, POSCO, and Tata Steel. The Secretary General, Ian Christmas, signed the agreement on behalf of IISI. The three other companies participating in the programme are Erdemir, IMIDRO, and Ruukki.

The new initiative is an opt-in programme for companies active in the construction sector. Through market research, technology benchmarking, knowledge management, an international architectural competition and demonstration building, the programme seeks to provide participants with a competitive edge in the construction market. IISI will continue to seek new programme members through 2005.

The programme grew out of the work done by IISI's Steel Solutions and Sustainable Urban Development (Scoping) Project Group, who presented a proposed work plan to IISI's Board of Directors in April 2004. The Project Group demonstrated that there are pockets of construction best practice amongst IISI members. However, no region has fully exploited the contribution steel can make to improved construction.

The first meeting of the participating companies will be held from 21-25 February 2005 in Kolkata, India.

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