Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest steel producer, announced its financial and operating results for the 2025/2026 fiscal year, which ended on March 31, and also reported on the restructuring of its European business.
In the fiscal year in question, the company recorded a net profit of 44.75 billion yen ($283.52 million), compared to 383 billion yen a year earlier. At the same time, net sales rose 15.7% year-over-year to 10 trillion yen ($63.7 billion) from 8.70 trillion yen in the previous fiscal year. The company’s operating profit fell by 55.7% year-over-year to 242.9 billion yen ($1.54 billion).
In the 2025/2026 fiscal year, Nippon Steel produced 50.5 million tons of steel, a 27.5% increase year-over-year, while shipments of steel products decreased by 1.5% to 31.16 million tons. For the 2026/2027 fiscal year, the company forecasts net profit of approximately 220 billion yen and revenue of about 11 trillion yen. Steel production is expected to reach 57.5 million tons, and steel product shipments are projected to be around 31.5 million tons.
The company noted that global demand in the manufacturing and construction sectors remains weak both in Japan and in overseas markets, with the exception of certain sectors, notably artificial intelligence, the power industry, and defense. The slowdown in China’s economic growth has exacerbated the imbalance between supply and demand in the global steel industry, contributing to an increase in exports of cheap Chinese steel and negatively impacting global markets. The company also warned of the risks of increased imports of cheap steel into Japan due to the intensification of protectionist trade measures in various countries.
In addition, effective October 1, 2026, Nippon Steel will acquire direct ownership of the Slovak steel plant in Košice, which is currently owned by US Steel. The US Steel Košice facility will be renamed Nippon Steel Slovakia s.r.o. and will become a directly controlled subsidiary of the Japanese group.
The decision is part of the reorganization of the company’s international operations following the acquisition of US Steel in 2025. The plant in Košice is set to become the group’s key operational base in the European market.
As reported by GMK Center, Nippon Steel plans to invest $39 billion over the next five years. This amount includes planned investments of nearly $11 billion in US Steel by the end of 2028. The company expects to increase its global steel production capacity to 100 million tons per year or more by 2030.
