 |
Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] TOKYO / PITTSBURGH, November 5 (local time) — Nippon Steel Corporation announced plans to invest approximately US $11 billion (₩15.9 trillion) to modernize and upgrade facilities of U.S. Steel Corporation, which it acquired earlier this year. The investment aims to strengthen U.S. Steel’s competitiveness in the North American market and expand production of high-value steel products, including electrical steel sheets used in data centers and power-transformer applications, by 2028.
According to Reuters and AP reports, the commitment reaffirms the investment pledge made by Nippon Steel during the U.S. Steel acquisition process, which was completed in June 2025 after overcoming opposition from former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Following the merger, Nippon Steel became the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker. Under the acquisition terms, the U.S. federal government secured a so-called “golden share”, allowing it to appoint one board member and exercise limited oversight on key management decisions.
U.S. Steel projects that the modernization program will reduce costs by US $2.5 billion, with an additional US $0.5 billion in savings through operational efficiencies. The company said around 50 specialists from Nippon Steel have identified more than 200 cost-saving initiatives across its operations.
A key component of the investment includes establishing new production lines at U.S. Steel’s Arkansas plant to manufacture high-grade electrical steel for U.S. data-center infrastructure starting in 2028. According to Nikkei, the product — used in transformers and other power-conversion applications — would make U.S. Steel one of the few U.S. producers in this specialized segment, currently dominated by Cleveland-Cliffs, potentially reshaping market dynamics.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s POSCO and Hyundai Steel are advancing their own joint plans to construct a new steel plant in Louisiana by 2029, setting the stage for intensified competition between Japanese and Korean steelmakers in the premium steel segment.
알파경제 Kim Jisun (stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
