Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel Corporation has announced two major decisions aimed at strengthening its global growth strategy, reinforcing its European operations, and streamlining its specialty steel business organization.
USSK to become Nippon Steel’s core European operating hub
According to the company’s statement, Nippon Steel has decided to transition U. S. Steel Košice, s.r.o. (USSK), a Slovakia-based wholly-owned subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation, to direct ownership by Nippon Steel. The transition is scheduled to take place on October 1, 2026, and the company will be renamed Nippon Steel Slovakia s.r.o. (NSSK) on the same day. Nippon Steel stated that USSK will be positioned as a core operating hub for its European operations.
USSK has supplied high-quality steel products to a wide range of sectors, including automotive, electrical, packaging, energy and construction, mainly in Central and Eastern Europe, since commencing operations in 1965. Nippon Steel said that the plant’s strategic location, diverse flat steel product portfolio, solid customer base, highly skilled workforce and sound facilities will play a key role in its European growth plans. The company also noted that Europe is the world’s third largest steel market after China and the US, while demand for high-grade steel is expected to increase particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.
According to Nippon Steel, Europe is undergoing a major structural transformation due to decarbonization trends and geopolitical uncertainties. The company emphasized that, given tariffs, safeguards and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, the European market has a high intra-regional self-sufficiency rate, making it strategically important to capture demand as an “insider.” Through the transition, Nippon Steel aims to become more directly involved in improving USSK’s profitability and accelerating the growth of its European business.
USSK is the largest steelmaker in Central and Eastern Europe, with an annual crude steel capacity of 4.5 million mt. Its main facilities include three blast furnaces, hot rolling, cold rolling, annealing, tinplate and galvanizing lines, as well as non-oriented electrical steel mills. In fiscal year 2025, USSK recorded revenue of €2.90 billion and crude steel production of 3.22 million mt. The company had 7,573 employees as of the end of 2025.
Sanyo Special Steel to be merged into Nippon Steel
Meanwhile, according to a separate statement issued by Nippon Steel and its wholly-owned subsidiary Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd., the boards of directors of the two companies have resolved to conduct a merger, under which Sanyo Special Steel will be absorbed into Nippon Steel. The merger is scheduled to become effective on April 1, 2027, with Nippon Steel as the surviving company and Sanyo Special Steel as the dissolving company.
Nippon Steel made Sanyo Special Steel a wholly-owned subsidiary in April 2025 in order to expand profit opportunities and strengthen business strategies through the integration and optimization of its bars, wire rods and specialty steel products business, while pursuing more efficient production systems for the group as a whole. The latest decision was taken to further accelerate synergies by enabling more unified organizational and business operations, including the integration of resources in manufacturing, sales, technology and research.
Nippon Steel expects domestic demand in Japan for bars, wire rods and specialty steel products to weaken in the medium to long term due to declining domestic demand caused by a shrinking population, China’s excessive production and export push, and the trend toward automobile electrification. However, the company expects demand to increase in growth markets such as India, while the need for locally produced materials is likely to rise in North America and Europe amid industrial protection trends. Growth is also expected in high-value-added fields such as semiconductors, energy and aerospace.
Nippon Steel stated that, as the merger is between the company and its wholly-owned subsidiary Sanyo Special Steel, the impact on its consolidated results of operation will be negligible.