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Construction and other details haven't been worked out, the company said today in a statement, denying a Nikkei newspaper report the mill would begin production as early as 2012.

JFE is ``studying'' building a blast furnace in either the Philippines, Vietnam or Thailand or elsewhere in Asia, Haruyuki Imamura, vice president of unit JFE Steel told reporters on Oct. 15 in Tokyo. JFE in April said it wanted to build plants outside Japan as domestic steel demand slows. None of Japan's blast-furnace steelmakers operates mills overseas.

The factory would cost about 500 billion yen (Bt170 billion) with capacity of as much as 6 million tonnes of crude steel a year, the Nikkei reported today, without saying where it got the information. Construction would begin as early as 2010, it said.

JFE climbed 2.3 per cent to close at 2,485 yen in Tokyo, compared with a 3.3 per cent gain in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average.

JFE supplies carmakers and other Japanese manufacturers worldwide with sheet steel and other products.

Toyota Motor, the world's second-largest automaker, in June said it would build hybrid cars in Thailand starting next year, investing Bt90 billion. The company also plans to invest Bt 5.4 billion to build a factory in Thailand for diesel engines used in pickup trucks. General Motors, Toyota's bigger rival, in August said it would invest $445 million for a diesel-engine factory in Thailand and to upgrade vehicle assembly facilities as it seeks to boost growth in Asia.