Six Japanese cos to quit Venezuela aluminum ops -Nikkei

June 9 (Reuters) - Six Japanese firms, including Kobe Steel Ltd (5406.T) and Showa Denko (4004.T), have decided to quit aluminum smelting operations in Venezuela due to a dispute over prices with the Venezuelan government, their joint venture partner, the Nikkei business daily reported. The group of firms -- which also include Japanese trading firm Marubeni Corp (8002.T), Sumitomo Chemical Co (4005.T), Mitsubishi Materials Corp (5711.T) and Mitsubishi Aluminum Co -- have a combined 20 percent stake in CVG Industria Venezolana de Aluminio C.A., commonly known as CVG Venalum. A Venalum spokesman said he had no information on any decision by the venture's Japanese partners. CVG Venalum mines bauxite and extracts aluminum from this ore. Every year it ships 90,000 tons to 160,000 tons to Japan for processing, accounting for 5 percent to 10 percent of Japanese demand. The Japanese firms recently notified the Venezuelan side that they plan to withdraw from the joint venture and sell their shares, and the Venezuelan government has agreed to this in principle, the daily said. The purchase price for the stake held by the firms is estimated at more than 50 billion yen ($509.9 million), the paper added. Since 2004, the Venezuelan government had sought to raise prices for aluminum shipped to Japan to a level higher than international prices. Because the parties were unable to reach an agreement, exports to Japan were suspended last year, the report said. ($1=98.06 Yen) (Reporting by Chakradhar Adusumilli in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott)