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History of JFE Steel

History of the JFE Steel Group History of JFE Steel Group

JFE Steel was founded in 2003 and has grown into the 14th largest steelmaker in the world, producing over 26 million tonnes of crude steel in 2022.

JFE Steel Group Timeline

  • Heritage Operations (1943-1995): Chita Steel Works established as special steel plant, developed seamless pipe mills for small and medium diameter applications, NKK and Kawasaki Steel built major CAL/CGL and HSM facilities
  • JFE Formation (2003): JFE Steel Corporation established from strategic merger of NKK and Kawasaki Steel, creating Japan's second-largest steelmaker with integrated coastal operations
  • Early Expansion (2004-2008): Acquired equity stakes in Korea's Union Steel, secured long-term iron ore contracts with CVRD, established BHP Billiton Australian mining JV, strengthened ties with Dongkuk Steel, signed Oman pelletising MOU
  • Asian Market Growth (2009-2016): Strategic auto sheet partnership with JSW Steel, acquired stakes in Vietnam's Sun Steel, opened Guangzhou cold rolling operations, commissioned Thailand and Indonesia galvanising lines, invested in Egypt's Kandil Steel
  • Global Resource Integration (2017-2020): Acquired SPINDO stake in Indonesia, developed Byerwen Coal Project with QCoal Australia, established Nucor JV in Mexico, acquired 50% of Baosteel Special Steel Shaoguan, considered domestic capacity cuts
  • Strategic Optimisation (2021-2024): Proposed grain-oriented steel JV with JSW India, invested in CSI California galvanising line, achieved ISO 45001 certification across all Japanese works, acquired 10% Blackwater coal mine stake
  • India Expansion and Domestic Restructuring (2025-2026): Electrical steel expansion with JSW, Bhushan Power & Steel JV completed, Keihin sheet operations consolidated
Timeline shows successful merger integration and global expansion strategy focused on automotive steel markets and raw material security. Demonstrates Japanese steel industry's evolution from domestic consolidation to international partnership model with emphasis on technology transfer and supply chain integration.

The timeline below covers the history of the firm.

  • 1943: Chita Steel Works established as special steel plant.
  • 1970: Chita small diameter seamless pipe mill begins operation.
  • 1971: Chita OCTG seamless pipes first shipped.
  • 1978: Chita medium diameter seamless pipe mill begins operation.
  • 1993: NKK builds No.4 CAL & No.3 CGL in West Japan Works (Fukuyama).
  • 1995: Kawasaki Steel completes #3 HSM in East Japan Works (Chiba).
  • 2003: JFE Steel established from the merger of NKK and Kawasaki Steel.
  • 2004: Acquires small equity stake in Korea's Union Steel.
  • 2004: Signs long-term iron ore supply contract with CVRD.
  • 2005: Finalises Australian iron ore jv deal with BHP (+ others).
  • 2006: JFE Steel Strengthens Ties with South Korea's Dongkuk Steel.
  • 2008: Signs MOU on pelletising project in Oman.
  • 2009: Agrees strategic auto sheet partnership with JSW Steel.
  • 2010: Acquires stake in Vietnam's Sun Steel.
  • 2011: Begins operating cold rolling mill in Guangzhou City, China.
  • 2013: Commences operation of continuous galvanising line in Thailand.
  • 2015: Plans to acquire 5% stake in Vietnam’s first integrated steelworks.
  • 2015: Completes iron ore mining business merger in Brazil.
  • 2016: Starts up continuous galvanising line for autos in Indonesia.
  • 2016: Acquires small equity stake in Egypt's Kandil Steel.
  • 2017: Acquires 1.48% Stake in Indonesian pipe & steel maker SPINDO
  • 2017: Starts work on Byerwen Coal Project in Queensland, Australia.
  • 2017: Automotive sheet jv established with Nucor in Mexico.
  • 2018: Joins forces with Numetal in failed bid for Essar Steel.
  • 2019: Joint Venture with QCoal ships first cargo of hard coking coal from Australia.
  • 2019: Gets 50% share of Baosteel Special Steel Shaoguan Co.
  • 2020: Ponders cut in domestic capacity due to declining steel demand.
  • 2020: Completes acquisition of 50% stake in Baosteel Special Steel Shaoguan from SGIS Songshan Co Ltd.
  • 2020: Nucor-JFE Steel Mexico joint venture commences operation of continuous galvanising line.
  • 2021: JFE & JSW propose Grain Oriented Steel Sheet Manufacturing JV in India.
  • 2022: Announces investment in new galvanising line at California Steel Industries (CSI) jv.
  • 2023: Completes acquisition of ISO 45001 certification for all works in Japan.
  • 2024: Acquires 10% interest in the Blackwater coal mine.
  • 2025: Signals expansion of electrical steel manufacturing capacity in India.
  • 2026: Completes Bhushan Power & Steel joint venture with JSW Steel in India.
  • 2026: Announces restructuring of sheet operations, consolidating Keihin district production elsewhere.

Notes
  • JFE Steel Corporation's three main production centres are two large coastal steelworks in eastern and western Japan, and the Chita Works. The East Japan Works incorporates facilities in the Chiba District and the Keihin District. The sites cover approximately 15 million square meters and the quantity of crude steel produced amounts to approximately 8 million tonnes per year. Main products include a variety of steel sheets, stainless steel, plates and pipes. JFE Steel Corporation's West Japan Works comprises the Fukuyama and Kurashiki integrated plants. The Chita Works specialises in the production of steel pipes and tubes.
  • 2004: Union Steel is South Korea's leading steel sheet re-roller, with ownership of the 100kt/year Busan Steel Works.
  • 2005: JFE contract related to a 10 year supply deal for 7mt/year iron ore per annum.
  • 2005: JV agreement was with BHP Billiton, Itochu Corporation and Mitsui & Co. JFE was to take a 20% equity stake in the BHPB Yandi Western 4 (W4) Mine in Australia in return for an 11 year iron ore supply deal.
  • 2006 tie up with Dongkuk Steel related to cooperation in many areas - including capital, technology and raw-material sourcing. Particulkar emphasis was to be placed on cooperation in Dongkuk Steel's construction of a plate mill in Dangjin; on the provision of manufacturing technology support for production of high-grade steel plate; and on continued stable supply of slabs for high-grade steel plate production to Dongkuk.
  • 2008 Oman project was to establish a joint venture company that produces and sells pellets in the Salalah Free Zone, Oman. JFE was to hold 40% of the JV’s shares.
  • 2009: Auto partnership deal with JSW Steel was for collaboration in India in the area of automotive steel including production technologies and supply of substrate materials for hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanised products. The scope also covered joint service activities including application engineering and product development for automotive customers.
  • 2010: Sun Steel Joint Stock Company (SUNSCO) is a leading manufacturer of galvanised steel sheet and steel pipe in Vietnam. JFE Steel acquired an 8% ownership stake.
  • 2011: Guangzhou JFE Steel Sheet (GJSS) is a joint venture between JFE Steel Corporation and Guangzhou Iron and Steel Enterprises Holdings Ltd for operation of a new cold rolling mill complex (incl hot dip galvanising) for auto and domestic goods applications. With a HDG capacity of 400kt and an investment cost of $990m (incl cold rolling) this facility was expected to employ a total of 700 staff once full operation commenced.
  • 2013: JFE Steel Galvanising (Thailand) began operation of a 400kt/year continuous galvanising line at the company's production facility in the Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate of southeast Thailand's Rayong Province in April.
  • 2015: JFE involvement in Vietnam centres on minority ownership of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation (FHS), a joint-venture company that is currently constructing Vietnam’s first integrated steelworks. The project is being spearheaded by FHS’s founder, Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), a Taiwanese integrated supplier of petrochemicals. The integrated steelworks will include a hot rolling mill, blast furnaces and steelmaking facility on a site measuring more than 2,000 hectares in Ha Tinh province.
  • 2015: JFE Steel involvement related to the merger of NAMISA with the mining and logistic assets of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) to form a new and more comprehensive Brazilian iron-ore mining business, Congonhas Minerios S.A., in which JFE has a small equity stake.
  • 2016: JFE's new continuous galvanising line in Indonesia produces cold-rolled and hot-dip galvanised steel sheet for automobiles at a site in Bekasi, near Jakarta. The facility has a capacity of 400,000 tons per year, and will produce galvanised steel sheet in widths of 800 mm to 1,850 mm and thicknesses of between 0.4 mm and 2.3 mm.
  • 2016: Kandil Steel produces and sells 600,000 tons of cold-rolled, hot-dip galvanised and colour-coated steel sheets per year. Kandil's steel products are mainly used in home electrical appliances, in the electrical industries, in commercial automotive production and as building materials.
  • 2017: SPINDO, established in 1971, is the largest pipe and steel processing firm in Indonesia. JFE Steel's commercial relations with SPINDO commenced with one of its predecessor companies - Kawasaki Steel - which supplied hot-rolled steel sheets to the Indonesian company through MISI, which was part of the ITOCHU Corporation at the time.
  • 2017: Joint venture with QCoal Pty Ltd centred on Byerwen Coal Project in Queensland Australia came after the Queensland State Government granted mining leases in April 2017 to Byerwen Coal Pty Ltd, a joint venture company between JFE Steel and QCoal, to develop two tenements in the project. The Byerwen mine, which is located in the north-east of Queensland, is expected to primarily produce hard coking coal, a raw material essential for the production of high-quality coke.
  • 2017: JV with Nucor is to be called Nucor-JFE Steel Mexico, NJSM. It will produce automobile steel sheet at a new plant in Silao, in the Mexican state of Guanajuato.
  • 2018: ArcelorMittal with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metals were the successful purchasers of Essar Steel.
  • 2019: In January 2019, JFE announced that Byerwen Coal Pty Ltd, a joint venture company in Queensland, Australia between JFE Steel and QCoal Pty Ltd, had shipped its first cargo of hard coking coal produced from the Byerwen Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP), bound for JFE's West Japan Works.
  • 2019: JFE Steel Corporation and Guangdong Shaoguan Iron and Steel Songshan Co., Ltd (SGIS), an affiliate of China BaoWu Steel Group Corporation Limited, reached an agreement under which JFE Steel would obtain a 50% share of Baosteel Special Steel Shaoguan Co, Ltd (BSSS), a 100% subsidiary of SGIS, to launch a joint-venture company with SGIS for the production and sale of specialty bar steel.
  • 2020: Post completion, Baosteel Special Steel Shaoguan Co changed its name to Baowu JFE Special Steel Co Ltd.
  • 2020: Chief Financial Officer Masashi Terahata said in March 2020 that JFE faced stiff competition in Southeast Asia, its top export market, as rival mills, especially those from China, increased production of cheaper steel. As a result, he said, JFE needed to look ahead and make a judgment on the optimal structure of its production facilities for the mid- to long-term.
  • 2020: Mexican JV with Nucor is for production of automotive quality hot-dip galvanised sheets.
  • 2022: CSI investment will be in a new continuous galvanising line in Fontana, California. The new coating line will serve the construction end-use markets in the western United States and is expected to have an annual capacity of 400,000 tons. The CSI JV was set up with joint venture partner Nucor Corporation in 1984.
  • 2024: Ownership stake in Blackwater coal mine purchased from Whitehaven Coal Limited, an Australian supplier of coking coal for steelmaking. The Blackwater mine is situated in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland.
  • 2025: Together with JSW - JFE's partner in India - the firm plans to be the top supplier of electrical steel in the Indian marketplace. This is to be achieved through expansion of the manufacturing capacity of JSW JFE Electrical Steel Private Limited (J2ES Vijayanagar) and JSW JFE Electrical Steel Nashik Private Limited (formerly Thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel India Private Limited, now J2ES Nashik). Both facilities are grain-oriented electrical steel sheet manufacturing plants that were established with a 50:50 equity ratio.
  • 2026: The joint venture with JSW Steel, completed on March 30, 2026, operates Bhushan Power & Steel Limited (BPSL)'s existing integrated steel plant in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. By running an existing integrated works, the partners aim to capture fast-growing Indian steel demand quickly, combining JFE technology with JSW operating expertise to expand high value-added production.
  • 2026: The sheet business restructuring was announced in April 2026. In May 2026 JFE also decided to transfer shape steel operations in the Fukuyama District of West Japan Works to group company JFE Bars & Shapes, effective April 2027.