A ladle of molten iron is poured into a furnace at the Granite City Works to produce steel. (Photo: U.S. Steel)
Through its subsidiary, Nippon Steel North America, Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. (NSC) has agreed to acquire U.S. Steel Corp. in a transaction valued at $14.1 billion. The agreement ends a monthslong sales process for U.S. Steel, which had been evaluating multiple offers.
The acquisition will enhance NSC’s world-leading manufacturing and technology capabilities and enable it to expand geographically. The transaction will further diversify NSC’s global footprint by significantly expanding its current production in the USA, adding to its primary geographies of Japan, ASEAN, and India. As a result of NSC’s acquisition of U. S. Steel, its expected total annual crude steel capacity will reach 86 million metric tons (mt), accelerating progress towards NSC’s strategic goal of 100 million mt of global crude steel capacity annually.
“We are excited that this transaction brings together two companies with world-leading technologies and manufacturing capabilities, demonstrating our mission to serve customers worldwide, as well as our commitment to building a more environmentally friendly society through the decarbonization of steel,” NSC President Eiji Hashimoto said. “NSC has long admired U.S. Steel, with deep respect for its advanced technologies, rich history, and talented workforce, and we believe we can jointly take on the challenge of raising our aspirations to even greater heights. The transaction builds on our presence in the United States and we are committed to honoring all of U.S. Steel’s existing union contracts.”
U.S. Steel is an integrated blast furnace and electric arc furnace steel manufacturer. It manufactures steel in the USA and Europe (Slovakia) and distributes steel sheets for automotive, home appliances, construction materials, and tubular for the energy industry. U S. Steel’s crude steel production capacity is approximately 20 million mt.
In addition to highly competitive integrated blast furnace mills, U.S. Steel owns valuable assets such as the one of the world’s most advanced electric arc furnace mini mill that is capable of producing high-grade steel, and iron ore mines to self-supply manufacturing operations in North America.
