Nippon Steel to spend $6 billion on decarbonisation efforts at three plants
TOKYO :Nippon Steel plans to invest nearly 870 billion yen ($6.05 billion) to introduce electric furnaces at its three domestic plants to reduce carbon emissions, the company said on Friday.
Japan's government plans to subsidise as much as 251 billion yen of the steelmaker's decarbonisation efforts focused on the three plants by the 2029 fiscal year, Nippon Steel said in a statement.
Following the investments, Nippon Steel will add around 2.9 million metric tons of new steel production capacity, it said.
($1 = 143.7300 yen)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Gamers line up for Nintendo Switch 2 on launch day
TOKYO :Gaming fans queued up for the launch of Nintendo's Switch 2 on Thursday amid pent-up demand for the more powerful next-generation gaming device. "The level of demand seems to be sky-high," said Serkan Toto, founder of the Kantan Games consultancy. In the Ikebukuro shopping district of Tokyo, dozens of successful applicants to a sales lottery by electronics retailer Bic Camera lined up before the store opened to collect their devices. "I feel like I'm going to cry," Yumi Ohi, a 30-year-old delivery contractor, told Reuters. Ohi had missed out in other lotteries and had come from Saitama prefecture, adjacent to Tokyo, to receive her Switch 2. Nintendo has sold 152 million Switch home-portable devices since launching in 2017. It became a games juggernaut with titles including two "The Legend of Zelda" titles and COVID-19 pandemic breakout hit "Animal Crossing: New Horizons". The Switch 2 bears many similarities with its predecessor but offers a larger screen and improved graphics and debuts with titles including "Mario Kart World". "The much larger audience of Switch users should translate to stronger adoption in the opening part of its lifecycle," said Piers Harding-Rolls, an analyst at Ampere Analysis. "Nintendo is better prepared this time around" to deal with the high demand, he said. The launch of the $499.99 Switch 2 is a test of Nintendo's supply chain management during U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. Nintendo last month forecast sales of 15 million Switch 2 units during the current financial year, as well as 4.5 million Switch units. President Shuntaro Furukawa said Nintendo will strengthen production capacity to respond to strong demand and focus on sales promotion in an effort to exceed the forecast. "Given it's a special occasion, I wanted to buy (the Switch 2) right away on its release date," said Shinichi Sekiguchi, a hotel receptionist in his thirties. Nintendo said it received 2.2 million applications for its Switch 2 sales lottery on its My Nintendo Store in Japan. Pre-orders at Target sold out in less than two hours. "You are looking at weeks or months until you can walk into a store and buy a Switch 2," said Toto of Kantan Games. Investor expectations for the new device are similarly lofty. Nintendo's shares, which closed down 2 per cent in Tokyo, have gained 28 per cent this year. Concerns include whether momentum for the Switch 2 will be sustained after hardcore gamers have upgraded. "The volume of first-party games on offer at launch isn't as strong as it could be, so some more casual users may wait and see how the games available build over the next one to two years before making the leap," said Ampere's Harding-Rolls. Ampere forecasts Switch 2 sales to exceed 100 million units in 2030. "Mario Kart World" has a U.S. sticker price of $79.99, generating debate over the price of games. Nintendo is also attracting third-party titles to the system. "I've been around since the era of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and games from (that period) were expensive too so I think it's somewhat within the acceptable range," said Akitomo Takahashi, a salesman in his forties.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
South Korea's Hanwha offloads Eutelsat stake as Starlink rival seeks new investors
South Korea's Hanwha Systems said on Thursday it was selling its entire 5.4 per cent stake in Eutelsat for about 78 million euros ($85 million), as the Franco-British satellite operator seeks new investors. Eutelsat has garnered unprecedented attention this year from governments looking for home-grown alternatives to SpaceX's Starlink for satellite internet connectivity. The company is working on a new financing plan to fund the second generation of its low Earth orbit (LEO) OneWeb satellites and to fulfil commitments to the European Union's IRIS² project. It has piled up hundreds of millions of euros in losses, particularly from its waning video business, while its 2023 acquisition of OneWeb has yet to yield the results it had hoped for due to competition and delayed deployment of technology. Finance chief Christophe Caudrelier said in May that Eutelsat was looking for capital investors. Hanwha's shares were offered at 3.00 euros ($3.42) apiece, representing a 13.9 per cent discount to Eutelsat's closing price of 3.48 euros on Wednesday, a term sheet from bookrunner Citi showed. It also marks a steep 74 per cent loss on Hanwha's initial $300 million investment made in OneWeb in 2021, with the stake now valued at just $85 million. The South Korean company said the sale, which is set to be concluded on Thursday, was not driven by an investment perspective but by a strategic shift to focus more on its core business operations. "This decision reflects a long-term strategy to concentrate on defense-related satellites and military communications, rather than on civilian satellite operations and services," Hanwha said in a statement to Reuters. A representative for Hanwha resigned from Eutelsat's board in April, signalling the company's diminishing involvement with the satellite operator. MAJOR OVERHAUL When asked by Reuters, Eutelsat said none of the other shareholders had expressed interest in selling their shares. A company spokesperson declined to comment on media reports saying France may raise its stake in the group. Eutelsat is also reshuffling its upper echelons. In a surprise move last month, it appointed Jean-François Fallacher as its new CEO and it is looking for a new chairperson after the current one announced his departure in February. Eutelsat's Paris-listed shares fell as much as 16.8 per cent in early trading on Thursday. Hanwha became a shareholder in OneWeb before it merged with Eutelsat. It is also one of OneWeb's distributors in South Korea as part of an agreement signed in 2023 with the aim of securing LEO communications for the government and providing internet access to underserved areas. Last week, South Korea's Science Ministry granted licenses to Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb to operate in the country, with services expected to be launched soon.
Independent Singapore
4 hours ago
- Independent Singapore
Will China order more Airbuses than India?
China is reported to be considering ordering hundreds of Airbuses as soon as next month. The question is, will it order even more Airbus than India? Bloomberg reports, quoting unnamed sources, that China could order as many 200 to 500 aircraft. The deal may be announced in July when European leaders visit Beijing for a summit marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are expected in Beijing — and the deal could benefit their countries, which are the two biggest Airbus shareholders. It could be President Xi Jinping's way of courting favour with the Europeans in the middle of a trade war with America. 'A high-profile deal with Airbus would allow Xi to send a message to Trump over trade,' says Bloomberg. There is no doubt it would be a significant and politically astute agreement. But would it be the biggest ever commercial aircraft deal? Not quite—not even if China orders 500 aircraft. IndiGo's record Airbus order That distinction still belongs to India's budget carrier IndiGo, which made history in 2023. See also China gets more aggressive towards US in South China Sea 'IndiGo, India's largest airline by market share, has placed a firm order for 500 A320 Family aircraft, setting the record for the biggest single purchase agreement in the history of commercial aviation,' Airbus announced in a press release on June 19, 2023, during the Paris Air Show. 'The latest agreement takes the total number of Airbus aircraft on order by IndiGo to 1,330, establishing its position as the world's biggest A320 Family customer.' The aircraft are scheduled for delivery between 2030 and 2035, IndiGo said in a statement issued the same day. IndiGo currently operates a fleet of over 400 aircraft, mostly Airbuses. With more than 2,200 daily flights and 126 destinations, including 37 abroad, it is the world's seventh largest airline by the number of daily departures. And its fleet is set to more than double in the next decade. The airline has over 900 Airbus aircraft yet to be delivered, according to an Airbus official quoted by The Times of India. See also AFP Fact Check: Novel coronavirus breeds global false claims Air India, India's other major airline, also has more than 300 Airbuses yet to be delivered, said the same official. He was in Delhi recently for the International Air Transport Association annual general meeting. The huge aircraft backlog of the two leading Indian carriers reflects the country's soaring demand for air travel. India is the world's third largest civil aviation market after America and China. Aircraft deliveries have fallen behind globally, notes the IATA 2025 annual review. 'Only 1,266 aircraft were delivered in 2024, a 8.1% drop from 2023.' Airbus sales increasing in China While lagging behind in deliveries, Airbus has steadily increased its sales to China, helped by a final assembly line in Tianjin for its popular A320 family aircraft, says Bloomberg. India has no such assembly line. Airbus has a final assembly line in Gujarat to manufacture the C295 military transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force. It has also partnered with Tata to establish a final assembly line in Karnataka to make the H125 helicopter. But Airbus has no final assembly line in India for commercial aircraft production. See also China slams 'senseless' US move at UN over Hong Kong Airbus is prospering in China at the expense of its US rival, Boeing. Business in China is becoming increasingly difficult for US plane maker owing to President Donald Trump's trade war with Beijing. The close links between politics and business were manifest during Trump's visit to the Middle East, where he landed major deals, including an order from Qatar Airways for as many as 210 Boeing jets. The Qatar deal contrasts with the slump in China. Airbus now claims to dominate the market there. It says: 'To date, there are more than 2,200 Airbus aircraft flying with the Chinese mainland airlines including passenger aircraft and freighters in China's mainland, representing 55% of the market share.' A massive Chinese order would reinforce Airbus' dominant position in the country. But for now, the title for the biggest single aircraft deal ever remains firmly in India's hands. Featured image from Wikimedia Commons (for illustration purposes only)
