was formed in 2012 by the merger of the old Nippon Steel and
Sumitomo Metal. was established in 1970 by the merger of
Fuji Iron & Steel
Fuji Iron & Steel () was a major Japanese steel-producing company that existed from 1950 to 1970.
History
Fuji Iron & Steel was created in 1950, under the antitrust, anti-zaibatsu edict of the Allied Occupying Forces, as the old semi-government- ...
and Yawata Iron & Steel. Nippon Steel is the world's third largest
steel producer by volume as of 2019.
History
Early years
Nippon Steel was created by the merger of two giants,
Yawata Iron & Steel (八幡製鉄 ''Yawata Seitetsu'') and
Fuji Iron & Steel
Fuji Iron & Steel () was a major Japanese steel-producing company that existed from 1950 to 1970.
History
Fuji Iron & Steel was created in 1950, under the antitrust, anti-zaibatsu edict of the Allied Occupying Forces, as the old semi-government- ...
(富士製鉄 ''Fuji Seitetsu''). Beginning in early 1981, however, the company cut production and saw a sharp decline in profit that
fiscal year
A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
. Forced to close furnaces, the company exhibited a typical
Japanese economic aversion to layoffs, opting instead to offer standard
early retirement
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
enticements but also less conventional schemes such as a
mushroom
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...
cultivation venture that used the surplus heat created by steel furnaces to temperature control a fecund
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
complex.
Troubled times
Attributing the drop to higher material costs, the company entered into another troubled year. In 1983, the company reported the end of the fiscal year (March 31) would reveal Nippon Steel was in an even more beleaguered situation. A fall in demand brought about a 39 percent tumble in profits from an already weak previous year. During this time the entire Japanese steel industry struggled in a period of turmoil as other nations such as
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, with only a fraction of labor costs, won over business. The company announced a loss in 1986, prompting a determined effort to diversify away from the moribund "smokestack" industrial sector and to provide new work for thousands of employees that would be transferred from closing furnaces.
Diversification
Nippon Steel expanded or further established itself in
semiconductors
A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...
,
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
, a
theme park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
called
Space World
was a theme park in Yahatahigashi-ku, Japan. It had 6 roller coasters: Black Hole Scramble, Venus GP, Zaturn, Boogie-woogie Space Coaster, Titan Max, and Clipper.
In 2016, the park officially announced that it would close at the end of the fo ...
,
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
, and even
human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...
products. Most notable was
Librex Computer Systems
Librex Computer Systems Inc. was a short-lived American subsidiary of the Nippon Steel Corporation that manufactured notebook computers from 1990 to 1992. Librex had roots in Nippon Steel's Electronics and Information Systems Division (EISD) back i ...
, Nippon Steel's attempt to sell
notebook computers
A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...
abroad that lasted from 1990 to 1993.
The company bucked seven struggling but profitable years when it returned to loss in 1993. Again, thousands of employees would be transferred to new operations. Due to cost-cutting, the company returned to health in 1995. However, Nippon Steel reported earnings in 1999 suffered from an overwhelming charge needed to cover pension costs, a problem not uncommon for shrinking industrial giants. 2002 and 2003 would be back-to-back loss years, but robust demand for steel in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
returned the company to profitability. (However, Nippon Steel had an operating profit for 2002 and 2003. The losses were made of extraordinary losses because of reevaluation of real estate and securities of the company among others.) Following a triple merger of
Sumitomo
The is one of the largest Japanese ''keiretsu'', or business groups, founded by Masatomo Sumitomo (1585-1652) around 1615 during the early Edo period.
History
The Sumitomo Group traces its roots to a bookshop in Kyoto founded circa 1615 by Masa ...
Corporation,
Kinzoku Steel Corporation (
Sumikin Bussan), and the existing Nippon Steel, NSSC was formed as these companies' conglomerate Stainless Steel division.
Merger
In early 2011, Nippon Steel announced plans to merge with
Sumitomo Metal Industries was a steel manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan until it merged with Nippon Steel in 2012 to form Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, the third largest steel manufacturer in the world as of 2015.
Its origins as a modern company date from 189 ...
. With Nippon Steel producing ~26.5 million tonnes of steel per year and Sumitomo making ~11 million tonnes, the merged entity would produce close to 37 million tonnes of crude steel per year. This volume of steel output would make Nippon Steel the second largest steelmaker in the world, putting it well ahead of Baosteel – the current number two (making ~31 mt steel / year) – although still well behind
ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second larg ...
(who produced 77.5 mt crude steel in 2010).
On October 1, 2012, Nippon Steel formally merged with Sumitomo Metal Industries at a ratio of 0.735 Nippon Steel shares per Sumitomo Metal share. The merged stock is listed (under number 5401, the old Nippon Steel number) as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. The logistics branches of both companies are announced to be merged on April 1, 2013, under the name "Nippon Steel & Sumikin Logistics Co., Ltd.", wholly owned by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation. The merged company planned to publish a common fact book in the summer of 2013.
On April 1, 2019, the Japanese name of the company was changed from Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation to Nippon Steel Corporation.
Present
By May 2020, Nippon Steel has announced that it would suspend operations of four furnaces, of which one for permanently, as it booked an annual loss in FY 2019.
Major plant locations
![Nippon Steel Kimitsu Works](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Nippon_Steel_Kimitsu_Works.jpg)
*
Muroran
is a city and port located in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Iburi Subprefecture. As of February 29, 2012, the city has an estimated population of 93,716, with 47,868 households and a population density of . The ...
,
Hokkaido
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
The la ...
*
Kamaishi
is a city located on the Sanriku rias coast in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 32,609, and a population density of 74 persons per km2, in 16,230 households. The total area of the city is
Geography
Kamaishi ...
,
Iwate
*
Kimitsu
is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 83,058 in 39,138 households and a population density of 260 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Kimitsu is located in the southweste ...
,
Chiba
Chiba may refer to:
Places China
* (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei
Japan
* Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture
** Chiba Station, a train station
* Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...
:
Kimitsu Steel Works
*
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
*
Tōkai
Tōkai ( 東海, literally ''East Sea'') in Japanese may refer to:
* Tōkai region, a subregion of Chūbu
* Tōkai, Ibaraki, a village, also known as "Tokaimura" (Tokai-village)
* Tōkai, Aichi, a city
* Tōkai University, a private university in T ...
,
Aichi
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectu ...
(Nagoya)
*
Sakai
is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and incl ...
,
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
*
Himeji
260px, Himeji City Hall
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is ...
,
Hyogo (Hirohata)
*
Hikari
may refer to:
Places
*Hikari Station, a station on Sanyō Main Line in Hikari, Yamaguchi
* Hikari, Chiba, a former town in Sousa District, Chiba, Japan
*Hikari, Yamaguchi, a city in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan
People
*Hikari (name), people and ...
,
Yamaguchi – steel piping
*
Kitakyushu
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuku ...
,
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
(Yahata)
*
Oita,
Oita
Added after Sumitomo merger
*
Kashima,
Ibaraki
*
Jōetsu,
Niigata (Naoetsu)
*
Amagasaki
file:Amagasaki Castle Tenshu 20181125.jpg, 270px, Amagasaki Castle
file:Amagasaki city center area Aerial photograph.1985.jpg, 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center
file:Amagasaki st03s3000.jpg, 270px, Amagasaki Station
is an industrial Citi ...
,
Hyōgo
*
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
*
Wakayama Wakayama may refer to:
*Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan
*Wakayama (city)
Wakayama City Hall
is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 351,391 in 157066 househol ...
*
Kitakyushu
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuku ...
,
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
(Kokura)
Joint ventures
*
New Carlisle, Indiana
New Carlisle is a suburban village in Olive Township, St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,861 at the 2010 Census. It is part of the South Bend–Mishawaka, IN- MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
New ...
, USA (built 1991)
*AM/NS Calvert. Formerly named ThyssenKrupp Steel USA and located in
Calvert, Alabama
Calvert is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mobile and Washington counties, Alabama, United States. It is located in the extreme northeast corner of Mobile County and southeast corner of Washington County near the T ...
, the facility was purchased from
ThyssenKrupp
ThyssenKrupp AG (, ; stylized as thyssenkrupp) is a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It is the result of the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and h ...
through a 50/50 joint partnership with
ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second larg ...
in February 2014 for $1.5 billion and renamed AM/NS Calvert. A greenfield construction project which began in 2007, the facility began operation in 2010 and has a production capacity of 5.3 million tons and includes a hot strip mill, cold roll mill and 4 coating lines. Products from the facility are marketed in the NAFTA region through managing partner ArcelorMittal.
*Nippon Steel Trading Co., Ltd., has set up a joint venture with three
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n local companies to produce 120,000 tons of sheet steel for the automotive industry. Nippon Steel would control a 30 percent share of the joint venture, PT IndoJapan Steel Center. It is located in the Mitra
Karawang
Karawang (Kota Karawang or Karawang Kota) is the capital of the Karawang Regency of West Java, Indonesia. It is 32 miles east of Jakarta, and had a population of 307,880 at the 2020 Census, spread over two districts of the regency - West Karawang a ...
Industrial Estate,
West Java
West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
in a 4.8-hectare area with total investment for first phase $38 million and was expected to start operating in January 2013.
*
POSCO
POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel-making company headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of of crude steel in 2015, making it the world's fourth-largest steelmaker by this measure. In 2010, i ...
-Nippon Steel RHF Joint Venture, Co., Ltd., located in
Pohang
Pohang () is a city in the province of North Gyeongsang, South Korea, and a main seaport in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region. The built-up area of Pohang is located on the alluvium of the mouth of the Hyeongsan River. The city is divided into two wa ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
. Using rotary hearth furnace technology, the company recycles
sludge
Sludge is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes, from water treatment, wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. For example, it can be produced as a settled suspension obtained from conventiona ...
and dust coming out from the POSCO plants.
Controversies
On October 30, 2018, the South Korean Supreme Court rejected appeals to overturn a 2013 order requiring Nippon to pay compensation to four South Korean workers who underwent forced labor which occurred during World War II and ordered Nippon to pay each of the workers an individual sum of 100 million won (US$87,700).
[ ] The four surviving steel workers, who were victims of forced labor which was supervised by Sumitomo, originally filed suit in 2005.
A Nippon spokesman called the decision "deeply regretful," while also promising a review of the ruling. The Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs
Taro Kono
is a Japanese politician serving as the Minister of Digital Affairs of Japan since August 2022. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he previously served as Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform from 2015 to 2016 and fro ...
maintained that the matter "has been resolved following the
Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea".
The asset seizure ordered by the Korean supreme court involves Nippon's stake in PNR, the POSCO-Nippon joint venture.
Environmental record
In 2005 the Nippon Steel corporation made a plan to step up its capacity for recycling waste plastics into
coke by 30%. Coke is a main resource in steel production. To manage the load they have invested ¥4 billion (about $38.2 million) to install equipment at Oita Mill and set up a second furnace at Kyushu facility.
In 2006 Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) jointly created a high tensile strength steel. The first application this steel was used for was the hulls of container ships. This steel allows the ships to be just as strong without the thick steel that it was requiring for them to grow in size. The smaller thickness allows the ships to attain a greater fuel-efficiency, cutting down on the environmental load of the ships.
Nippon Steel announced a pilot project to process waste food into ethanol in 2006. They have tasked Kitakyushu City with collecting and sorting the
food waste
Food loss and waste is food that is not eaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, and consumption. Overall, about o ...
and Nishihara Co., a waste management company, with developing new technologies to implement the sorted collecting system. To minimize costs they will use waste heat from an existing incineration facility that had not been effectively utilized, and the residue left after ethanol recovery will be burned in this incinerator.
Nippon Steel has been addressing environmental issues in an integrated manner as part of the overall management since the establishment of the company, aiming at realizing a sustainable society. In 2011, the company was awarded with the Fray International Sustainability Award in Mexico, for its approach in achieving Eco-processes, Eco-products, and Eco-solutions.
Carbon footprint
Nippon Steel reported Total
CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 March 2020 at 73,706 Kt (-16,556 /-18.3% y-o-y).
[Alt URL]
/ref> Reported emissions have been on a downward trend since 2016.
See also
* Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea
Anti-Japanese sentiment; , ''Banil gamjeong'' in Korean society has its roots in historic, cultural, and nationalistic sentiments.
The first recorded anti-Japanese attitudes in Korea were effects of the Japanese pirate raids and the later 15 ...
* NS Solutions
* Kashima Antlers
are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...
* Nippon Steel Yawata S.C., former company football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club, based near the Yawata plant and originally owned by it before the Fuji Steel merger
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal
*
Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo
Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea
Chemical companies based in Tokyo
Steel companies of Japan
Defense companies of Japan
Japanese brands
Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange