Kobe Steel

{{for|the construction equipment subsidiary|Kobelco Construction Machinery America}}

{{short description|Japanese steelmaker}}

{{update|date=November 2017}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Kobe Steel, Ltd.

| trade_name = Kobelco

| native_name = 株式会社神戸製鋼所

| native_name_lang = ja

| romanized_name = Kabushiki gaisha Kōbe Seikō-sho

| logo = Kobelco logo.svg

| logo_size = 200px

| image = 東京本社ONビル.jpg

| image_caption = Tokyo Head Office

| type = Public (Kabushiki gaisha)

| traded_as = {{TYO|5406}}
{{NAG|5406}}
Nikkei 225 component (TYO)

| foundation = Kobe, Japan
({{start date and age|1905|9|1}})

| founder = Suzuki Shoten
Seiichiro Kobayashi

| location = 2-4, Wakinohama-Kaigandori 2-chome, Chūō-ku, Kobe, Hyōgo, 651-8585, Japan

| key_people = Mitsugu Yamaguchi, (CEO and President)

| industry = Steel

| products = {{Unbulleted list|Steel & Aluminum|Advanced Materials|Welding|Machinery|Engineering|Construction Machinery|Electric Power}}

| revenue = {{increase}} ¥106.8 billion (FY 2022)

| net_income = {{increase}} ¥72.5 billion (FY 2022)

| num_employees = 38,106 (consolidated) (as of March 31, 2022)

| homepage = {{Official URL}}

| footnotes = {{cite web |url=https://www.kobelco.co.jp/english/about_kobelco/kobesteel/profile/index.html |title=Corporate Profile|website=Kobelco.co.jp |access-date=April 13, 2014}}{{cite web | url=https://www.kobelco.co.jp/ir/library/fncl_results/2022/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2022/08/09/220809_hosoku.pdf |title=Financial statements for the first quarter of 2022 |website=Kobelco.co.jp |access-date=August 28, 2022}}

| assets = ¥250.9 billion (as of March 31, 2022)

}}

Kobe Steel, Ltd. (株式会社神戸製鋼所, Kabushiki gaisha Kōbe Seikō-sho) is a major Japanese steel manufacturer headquartered in Chūō-ku, Kobe. Kobelco is the unified brand name of the Kobe Steel Group.

Kobe Steel has the lowest proportion of steel operations of any major steelmaker in Japan and is characterised as a conglomerate comprising the three pillars of the Materials Division, the Machinery Division and the Power Division.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kobelco.co.jp/about_kobelco/outline/integrated-reports/index.html |title=統合報告書 |publisher=株式会社神戸製鋼所 |accessdate=28 August 2022}}

The materials division has a high market share in wire rods and aluminium materials for transport equipment, while the machinery division has a high market share in screw compressors. In addition, the power sector has one of the largest wholesale power supply operations in the country.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kobelco.co.jp/about_kobelco/outline/integrated-reports/index.html |title=統合報告書 |publisher=株式会社神戸製鋼所 |accessdate=28 August 2022}}

Kobe Steel is a member of the Mizuho keiretsu. It was formerly part of the DKB Group, Sanwa Group keiretsu, which later were subsumed into Mizuho.

The company is listed on the Tokyo & Nagoya Stock Exchange, where its stock is a component of the Nikkei 225.{{cite web|url=http://indexes.nikkei.co.jp/en/nkave/index/component?idx=nk225#17 |title=Components:Nikkei Stock Average |publisher=Nikkei Inc. |access-date=April 13, 2014}}

As of March 31, 2022, Kobe Steel has 201 subsidiaries and 50 affiliated companies across Japan, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US. Its main production facilities are Kakogawa Steel Works and Takasago Works.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kobelco.co.jp/about_kobelco/outline/integrated-reports/index.html |title=統合報告書 |publisher=株式会社神戸製鋼所 |accessdate=28 August 2022}}

Kobe Steel is also famous as the owner of the rugby team Kobelco Steelers.{{Cite web |date=2020-01-16 |title=How Dan Carter's Kobelco Steelers are setting the new standard in Japanese rugby |url=https://www.rugbypass.com/news/how-dan-carters-kobelco-steelers-are-setting-the-new-standard-in-japanese-rugby/ |access-date=2023-09-04 |website=www.rugbypass.com |language=en}}

==History==

File:Suzuki_&_Co_1918.jpg, before 1918)]]

In 1905, the general partnership trading company Suzuki Shoten acquired a steel business in Wakinohama, Kobe, called Kobayashi Seikosho, operated by Seiichiro Kobayashi, and changed its name to Kobe Seikosho. Then, in 1911, Suzuki Shoten spun off the company to establish Kobe Steel Works, Ltd. at Wakinohamacho, Kobe.{{Cite web|url=http://www.suzukishoten-museum.com/footstep/history/cat3/cat3/post-158.php |title=神戸製鋼所設立の歴史① |publisher=鈴木商店記念館 |accessdate=28 August 2022}}

After the Russo-Japanese War, as the Imperial Japanese Navy adopted a policy of fostering private factories, Kobe Steel received technical guidance and orders from the Kure Naval Arsenal and other arsenals in Maizuru and Yokosuka, and expanded its scale.{{Cite web|url=http://www.suzukishoten-museum.com/footstep/history/cat3/cat3/post-155.php |title=神戸製鋼所設立の歴史③ |publisher=鈴木商店記念館 |accessdate=28 August 2022}}

Around 1914, the company started making machinery for naval vessels and began its journey as a machine manufacturer. Its business performance expanded, partly due to the shipbuilding boom during World War I. In 1918, it acquired the rights to manufacture diesel engines from Sulzer of Switzerland, helping to speed up the Japanese naval, marine, locomotive and automobile transport sectors.{{Cite web|url=http://www.suzukishoten-museum.com/footstep/history/cat3/cat3/post-152.php |title=神戸製鋼所設立の歴史⑤ |publisher=鈴木商店記念館 |accessdate=28 August 2022}}

Today, the KOBELCO Group operates a broad range of business fields that cover Steel & Aluminum, Advanced Materials, Welding, Machinery, Engineering, Construction Machinery, and Electric Power.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kobelco.co.jp/about_kobelco/outline/integrated-reports/index.html |title=統合報告書 |publisher=株式会社神戸製鋼所 |accessdate=28 August 2022}}

In the Great Hanshin Earthquake of January 1995, the Kobe head office building and company housing collapsed, and the No. 3 Blast Furnace at the Kobe Steel Works was also damaged, resulting in an emergency shutdown, causing approximately JPY 100 billion in damage, the largest for a private company. The Third Blast Furnace, which restarted only two and a half months after the earthquake, had become a 'symbol of recovery', but was suspended in October 2017 in order to strengthen competitiveness.{{Cite news |title= 神戸製鋼、神戸の高炉休止 震災復興の象徴、歴史に幕 |newspaper=朝日新聞 |date=31 October 2017 |url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASKB002YJKBZPLFA00W.html |accessdate=28 August 2022}} In recent years, the company has been focusing on fields other than steel, such as aluminium, machinery, and electric power, and is clearly aiming to change from being a 'steelmaker' to a 'manufacturer that also handles steel'.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kobelco.co.jp/about_kobelco/outline/integrated-reports/index.html |title=統合報告書 |publisher=株式会社神戸製鋼所 |accessdate=28 August 2022}}

Former prime minister Shinzō Abe worked at Kobe Steel before entering politics.{{cite news |date=12 October 2017 |title=Kobe Steel admits falsifying data on 20,000 tonnes of metal |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/news/business/21730244-it-latest-long-list-scandals-have-befallen-corporate-japan-kobe-steel-admits}}

In August 2024, China’s Baoshan Iron and Steel (Baosteel) and Baowu Aluminum partnered with Kobe Steel to establish a joint venture for producing aluminum sheets for the automotive industry. {{Cite web |title=China's Baosteel, Baowu Aluminum, and Japan's Kobe Steel unite for automotive aluminium sheet manufacturing |url=https://www.alcircle.com/news/chinas-baosteel-baowu-aluminum-and-japans-kobe-steel-unite-for-automotive-aluminium-sheet-manufacturing-111662 |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=alcircle |language=en}}