Kobe Steel


Kobe Steel, Ltd., operating worldwide under the brand Kobelco, is a major Japanese steel manufacturer headquartered in Chūō-ku, Kobe. Kobe Steel also has a stake in Osaka Titanium Technologies. The company supplies about half of the global market of the wires used in valve springs of auto engines.
It was formed on September 1, 1905. Its location in a major city port was useful for importing and exporting iron ore and coal. It is one of Kobe's oldest industrial companies. Its main production facilities are Kakogawa Steel Works and Kobe Steel Works. Kobe Steel is the owner of the rugby team Kobelco Steelers.
The company is listed on the Tokyo and Nagoya Stock Exchange, on the Osaka Securities Exchange and is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 stock index. As of March 31, 2019, the company had 218 subsidiary and 52 affiliated companies across Japan, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US.
Kobe Steel is a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group keiretsu.

History

Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe worked at Kobe Steel before entering politics.
In 2016, Kobe Steel lost ¥23 billion due to cheap aluminium and steel imports.

Scandal

In October 2017, Kobe Steel admitted to falsifying data on the strength and durability of its aluminum, copper and steel products. The scandal deepened when the company said it found falsified data on its iron ore powder, which caused its shares to fall 18%. By 11 October, shares had fallen by a third. After testing the parts of their bullet trains, the Central Japan Railway Company announced that 310 components were discovered to contain sub-standard parts supplied by Kobe Steel.
Following further news in October 2017 that car makers Toyota, Nissan, and General Motors, and train manufacturer Hitachi, were among 200 companies affected by the Kobe Steel's mislabelling, which had potential safety implications for their vehicles, the CEO of Kobe Steel conceded that his company now had "zero credibility". Other affected companies include Ford, Boeing and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. CEO Kawasaki promised to lead an internal investigation. On 13 October 2017, Kobe Steel admitted that the number of companies misled was over 500.
Despite the costs of dealing with the scandal, Kobe Steel issued a revised profit forecast in February 2018 announcing that it expects to generate a net profit of ¥45 billion for the full 2017 fiscal year, marking its first net profit in three years.

Business segments and products