JFE Steel announced today that it will install a new electric-arc furnace at the No. 4 steelmaking shop of its Chiba District facility, which will enable the production of stainless steel using relatively large amounts of scrap in order to reduce CO₂ emissions. The electric-arc furnace will be installed at a cost of about 15 billion yen and is expected to be commissioned in the second half of the fiscal year starting in April 2025.

The shop currently manufactures stainless steel through a process that uses feedstocks consisting mainly of molten iron from blast furnaces, self-generated scrap, chromium ore and chromium-containing dust. The new electric-arc furnace will allow the facility to increase its use of scrap up to approximately sixfold (about 300,000 tons per year), in place of molten iron, in order to reduce CO₂ emissions by a maximum of about 450,000 tons per year.

JFE Steel views the remaining time until 2030 as a transitional period during which it will convert to low-carbon processes in the company’s effort to become carbon neutral. As part of the transition, an effective electric arc furnace will now be used as an alternative to steel making at a facility in the Chiba District facility. The company will continue to take a multitrack approach to introducing innovative technologies aimed at achieving carbon neutrality.

About JFE Steel Corporation

JFE Steel Corporation, one of the world’s leading integrated steel producers, was established through the consolidation of NKK Corporation and Kawasaki Steel Corporation in 2003. The company operates several steelworks in Japan and numerous branch offices and affiliates throughout the world. JFE Steel leverages world-class technologies and know-how to produce a wide range of products based on its “Only One, Number One” strategy of focusing on unique and best-in-class products. The company reported consolidated sales of 2,255 billion yen and consolidated crude steel output of 23.96 million tons in the fiscal year ended March 2021.

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