Nippon Steel plans $6 billion investment in its Japanese mills
The investments in electric arc furnaces — which use scrap metal as a raw material — will be spread across three of the steelmakers' mills, and as much as 29% of the funding will come from the government, Nippon Steel said in a statement.
The spending in Japan comes at a critical juncture for the firm's 17-month push to acquire the American steelmaker, with U.S. President Donald Trump poised to speak about the deal during a visit to a U.S. Steel plant later on Friday.
While Trump offered his backing for the acquisition last week, key details about the final structure and conditions of any deal remained unclear. The president said there would be a "partnership' that would invest $14 billion in U.S. steelmaking.
Nippon Steel said it would build a new electric arc furnace at its Kyushu works, while expanding and restarting capacity at two other sites. Total capacity from the new investments would be 2.9 million metric tons a year, it said.
Steelmakers worldwide are trying to pivot to less carbon-intensive production methods — including electric arc furnaces — sometimes with support from governments that are pushing to decarbonize heavy industries.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
3 hours ago
- Japan Today
Trump blames renewable energy for rising electricity prices
By MATTHEW DALY With electricity prices rising at more than twice the rate of inflation, President Donald Trump has lashed out at renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, blaming them for skyrocketing energy costs. Trump called wind and solar power 'THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!' in a social media post and vowed not to approve wind or 'farmer destroying Solar' projects. 'The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!' he wrote on his Truth Social site. Energy analysts say renewable sources have little to do with recent price hikes, which are based on increased demand, aging infrastructure and increasingly extreme weather events such as wildfires that are exacerbated by climate change. The rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence has fueled demand for energy-hungry data centers that need power to run servers, storage systems, networking equipment and cooling systems. Increased use of electric vehicles also has boosted demand, even as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans move to restrict tax credits and other incentives for EV purchases approved under the Biden administration. Natural gas prices, meanwhile, are rising sharply amid increased exports to Europe and other international customers. More than 40% of U.S. electricity is generated by natural gas. Trump promised during the 2024 campaign to lower Americans' electric bills by 50%. Democrats have been quick to blame him for the price hikes, citing actions to hamstring clean energy in the sprawling tax-and-spending cut bill approved last month, as well as regulations since then to further restrict wind and solar power. 'Now more than ever, we need more energy, not less, to meet our increased energy demand and power our grid. Instead of increasing our energy supply Donald Trump is taking a sledgehammer to the clean energy sector, killing jobs and projects,' said New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The GOP bill will cost thousands of jobs and impose higher energy costs nationwide, Heinrich and other critics said. A report from Energy Innovation, a non-partisan think tank, found the GOP tax law will increase the average family's energy bill by $130 annually by 2030. 'By quickly phasing out technology-neutral clean energy tax credits and adding complex material sourcing requirements,' the tax law will 'significantly hamper the development of domestic electricity generation capacity,' the report said. Renewable advocates were more blunt. 'The real scam is blaming solar for fossil fuel price spikes,' the Solar Energy Industries Association said in response to Trump's post. 'Farmers, families, and businesses choose solar to save money, preserve land, and escape high costs of the old, dirty fuels being forced on them by this administration,' the group added. Wind and solar offer some of the cheapest and fastest ways to provide electric power, said Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, another industry group. More than 90% of new energy capacity that came online in the U.S. in 2024 was clean energy, he said. 'Blocking cheap, clean energy while doubling down on outdated fossil fuels makes no economic or environmental sense,' added Ted Kelly, director of U.S. clean energy for the Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit advocacy group. Energy Secretary Chris Wright blamed rising prices on 'momentum' from Biden-era policies that backed renewable power over fossil fuel sources such as oil, coal and natural gas. 'That momentum is pushing prices up right now. And who's going to get blamed for it? We're going to get blamed because we're in office,' Wright told POLITICO during a visit to Iowa last week. About 60 percent of the state's electricity comes from wind. Not all the pushback comes from Democrats. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican who backs wind power, has placed a hold on three Treasury nominees to ensure wind and solar have 'an appropriate glidepath for the orderly phase-out of the tax credits' approved in the 2022 climate law under former President Joe Biden. Grassley said he was encouraged by new Treasury guidance that limits tax credits for wind and solar projects but does not eliminate them. The guidance 'seems to offer a viable path forward for the wind and solar industries to continue to meet increased energy demand,' Grassley said in a statement. John Quigley, senior fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, said the Republican tax law will increase U.S. power bills by slowing construction of solar, wind, and battery projects and could eliminate as many as 45,000 jobs by 2030. Trump administration polices that emphasize fossil fuels are 'an extremely backward force in this conversation,' Quigley said. 'Besides ceding the clean energy future to other nations, we are paying for fossil foolishness with more than money — with our health and with our safety. And our children will pay an even higher price.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
12 hours ago
Japan Vows 5.5 B. Dollars to Boost African Private Sector
Yokohama, Aug. 21 (Jiji Press)--Japan will provide up to 5.5 billion dollars in financial support over three years to the African private sector in collaboration with the African Development Bank, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato reaffirmed Thursday. "I believe it will strengthen the partnership between Japan and Africa, bringing sustainable growth, " Kato said of the support, which will begin in 2026 through a framework called the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa, or EPSA. He made the remarks at an event of the Japan-led Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD 9, which began Wednesday in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of the Japanese capital, for a three-day run. Under the EPSA initiative, launched in 2005, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the African Development Bank cofinance projects in areas including electricity, sanitation and disaster prevention. JICA also provides yen-denominated loans to the bank, helping to lower interest rates on loans to private businesses. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
NHK
13 hours ago
- NHK
McDonald's Japan asked to revamp 'Happy Set' promotion campaign
Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency has asked McDonald's Japan to revamp its "Happy Set" campaign after the major hamburger chain's "Pokemon" campaign resulted in lots of food waste. The agency said it requested the company to improve its sales strategy and take steps to prevent food loss. This comes after the firm's recent campaign, which ran from August 9 to 11, drew controversy. It gave away Pokemon trading cards to purchasers of its Happy Set meals. But it was found that some customers bought the combos in bulk only to get the cards and resell them, while discarding lots of food. Commissioner Horii Natsuko of the agency told reporters on Thursday that it is regrettable that a lot of food was wasted. Horii said she takes the issue seriously. McDonald's Japan said it plans to introduce stricter sales quotas for the Happy Set. The company also decided to suspend a campaign due to start Friday next week, in which customers are to be offered food items with trading cards from a popular manga series, and it is reviewing related measures.
