Steel Mills
October 14, 2020
Nippon Considers Sale of Indiana Joint Ventures
Written by Sandy Williams
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. is considering selling its shares of I/N Tek and I/N Kote, rolling and galvanizing plants held in a 50-50 joint venture with ArcelorMittal, to Cleveland-Cliffs. Cliffs acquired ArcelorMittal’s shares of the two plants in New Carlisle, Ind., in a deal for the company’s U.S. assets last month.
Nippon Steel is expected to post a net loss of $1.9 billion for the six months ending in September as a result of plummeting auto demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nippon Steel is focusing on oversea opportunities and on streamlining operations, including closing a plant in western Japan. The restructuring will reduce Nippon’s annual production capacity by about five million tons.
