Comment: Nippon Steel at crossroads on climate with acquisition of U. S. Steel
Tokyo, Japan, 17 June 2025 – What was once hoped to be an opportunity to supercharge green steel transformation for Japanese steel giant Nippon Steel is turning into a poison pill, with the company doubling down on coal to secure its U. S. Steel deal.
Continued coal use in Japan plus the US will transform Nippon Steel into one of the largest and dirtiest steelmakers.
U. S. Steel’s total emissions in 2023 amounted to 29.51 Mt (Scope 1 and 2). [1] Nippon Steel has announced plans to reline six of U. S. Steel’s blast furnaces by 2030, prolonging coal-based production well into the future. Combined with its total reported emissions of 76.5 Mt (Scope 1 and 2) for FY2023,[2] Nippon Steel’s enlarged operations will generate an estimated 100Mt-plus of emissions per year.
“The U. S. Steel deal gives Nippon Steel a far larger climate responsibility, but so far, all we are seeing from the company are promises to lock in coal use indefinitely, completely undermining the green image it wants to convey,” said Roger Smith, SteelWatch’s Asia Lead.
“By the time Nippon Steel finishes relining U. S. Steel’s blast furnaces, giving them another 20 years of life, President Trump will be out of office. Does the company really think there will be no requirements by governments, buyers, or investors to reduce emissions between now and 2050? Nippon Steel urgently needs to articulate a plan to rapidly phase out coal-based production and embrace the future of steelmaking, or make the same mistakes U. S. Steel did to end up in this position.”
ENDS
Contacts
Roger Smith, SteelWatch Asia Lead
[email protected]
Shiori Matsumoto, SteelWatch Asia Communications and Research Officer
[email protected],
+34 613 869508
Notes
- U. S. Steel’s The Future of Steel: https://www.ussteel.com/documents/40705/43725/USS_ESG_Report_2023.pdf/60c7b0ab-c5cd-b3e0-ccc6-de5ab25064f2?t=1719353134933 US and USSK operations together are 29.51 Mt.
- Nippon Steel’s Responding to Climate Change—Governance, Risk Management, Goals and Performance: https://www.nipponsteel.com/en/csr/env/warming/overview.html
For more information on Nippon Steel’s climate actions, see SteelWatch’s 2025 Corporate Climate Assessment of Nippon Steel: https://steelwatch.org/reports/nscca2025/
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