U.S. Steel emerges as growth driver one year after Nippon Steel deal
A significant chunk of Nippon’s American investments — somewhere in the ballpark of $2.5 billion — are set to hit U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works.
By JAMES ENGEL
TribLive
Nippon Steel — the Japanese giant that acquired U.S. Steel for nearly $15 billion last June — says the Pittsburgh-based icon is now among its main sources of profit.
In a report released Tuesday, the company listed its net profits in the quarter ending June 30 as $477 million — with about $123 million of net profit from U.S. Steel.
That amounts to about half of the Tokyo-based firm’s profits from overseas ventures.
Overall, Nippon said demand has been “sluggish” as it competes with Chinese steelmakers and contends with economic uncertainty partially driven by the Iran War, the report said.
But the company said it’s pinning its hopes on investment in Europe and the United States, which it said “are less susceptible to developments in China and are expected to achieve growth.”
“U.S. Steel is driving the group’s earnings thanks to higher steel market prices in the U.S., and by realizing synergies and measures to improve profitability, mainly through the resumption of blast furnace operations,” the report said.
In turn, Nippon raised its U.S. Steel profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027, to $1.14 billion from a May estimate of about $635 million.
That’s after U.S. Steel was about $35.5 million in the red during the 2025 fiscal year.
A significant chunk of Nippon’s American investments — somewhere in the ballpark of $2.5 billion — are set to hit Western Pennsylvania’s Mon Valley Works.
Among the largest projects is a new hot strip mill at U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Plant, the company’s massive, 151-year-old facility that straddles Braddock and North Braddock.
The strip mill, which rolls finished steel slabs into thin, coiled sheets, would replace an 87-year-old mill at the company’s Irvin plant in West Mifflin.
Company officials have also proposed a $100 million slag recycler at Edgar Thomson that would see the oxidized byproduct of steel smelting repurposed into materials for cement and highways.
Nippon also says it plans to restart a blast furnace at U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works in Illinois as it continues a $350 million overhaul of several blast furnaces at its Gary Works in Indiana.
