Nippon Steel

Company Biography

Nippon Steel is Japan’s largest, and the world’s fourth-largest, steelmaker. Headquartered in Tokyo, in 2023 it produced 43.7 million tonnes of crude steel. It aims to more than double that by expanding its business globally. Its key markets include automotive, civil engineering, and construction, and it has operations across ASEAN, China, India, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East.

The company dominates Japan’s steel sector, accounting for 44% of domestic output in 2023. As a major player, Nippon Steel holds sway over industry trends and policymaking, and retains executive positions in the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) and Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF).

Nippon Steel promotes itself as a “pioneer in decarbonisation”, pledging carbon neutrality by 2050. However, its main green tech – hydrogen-injection into coal-based blast furnaces (COURSE50 and Super COURSE50) – is presented as being able to cut emissions by 30–50% by 2050. These methods extend coal use and cannot achieve the near-zero emissions production methods steelmakers need to transition to.Crucially, Nippon Steel’s climate strategy doesn’t align with the 1.5C Paris Agreement limit. MSCI estimates its current path leads to over 3.2C of warming.

To do its part on climate change, Nippon Steel must:

Set Paris-aligned emissions targets.
Phase out solutions which prolong use of coal like COURSE50.
Invest in truly green, transformative steelmaking tech.

SteelWatch urges Nippon Steel to phase out coal dependence and to shift to adopt business strategies centering on climate urgency, to lead the steel industry toward a sustainable future.

Insight

CEO: Eiji Hashimoto
Owners: Listed on Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Sapporo stock exchanges. 32.0% of its stock is owned by individuals and others in Japan, 30.0% is owned by financial institutions such as the Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd (13.6%) and Custody Bank of Japan, Ltd (4.8%), followed by overseas investors (20.6%).
HQ location: Marunoushi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Number of employees: 113,639 (as of March 31, 2024)
Annual crude steel production: 43.7 million tonnes (2023)
Annual revenue: 935 billion JPY (6.6 billion USD, FY 2023)
Number of blast furnaces: 10 (as of April 1, 2025).
Number of electric arc furnaces: 4 (as of September, 2024)

Nippon Steel’s Green Claims vs. Coal Reality

Back in 2021, Nippon Steel showed its 2050 carbon neutral vision and set decarbonisation as one of its most important business challenges. Its 2050 carbon neutrality vision includes promising technologies like Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) production and Hydrogen Direct Reduction of Iron (H2-DRI). But in practice, the company is focusing on developing technologies to prolong coal.

Its main focus is a technology it brands as COURSE50 and Super COURSE50. These methods aim to cut emissions from 30% to 50% by using technologies including hydrogen injection into coal-based blast furnaces. In Super COURSE50, a next generation of technological development, the remaining emissions are expected to be reduced through a combination of measures such as CCUS. However, widespread adoption of these methods are projected for the 2040s and the technical feasibility and high cost of carbon capture may pose insurmountable barriers to widescale deployment. It is therefore unlikely to contribute to accelerating decarbonisation, with the risk of emissions lock-in from blast furnaces into the 2040s.

Also, Nippon Steel isn’t just sticking with coal: it’s expanding its reliance on it. The company has boosted investments in coal mining, increased its holdings in Australia and Canada, and even pledged additional investment in coal-based steel production at U.S. Steel’s Gary and Mon Valley Sites as part of its acquisition plans.

For the full picture, check out SteelWatch’s Corporate Climate Assessment of Nippon Steel.