Nippon’s US Steel Buy Out & What It Means For The Steel Industry

     Japan’s largest steelmaker, Nippon, bought out US Steel for 14.1 billion dollars in December. The move creates the second largest steel company in the world and moves US Steel into a more competitive position. US Steel has seen a steady decline in production for many years now as Chinese manufactures have taken over large swaths of the steel industry.

     The move brings into question what, if any, ramifications will it have on the steel market for the United States and world wide? The likelihood that such a large merger would have a global impact on steel prices is low. Chinese companies own over 50% over the steel industry world wide so while the merger is grand in scale it’s not grand in market share.

     Instead the merger should allow Nippon and US Steel to innovate and compliment each other in new, established,  and emerging markets. It’s likely that 2024 will remain very stable for the steel industry worldwide, at least for now. Combining innovation methods of both companies should allow Nippon & US Steel to increase combined efforts and bring cost effective steel to the market in the near the term.  American jobs are likely to also remain stable through the transaction and acquisition of US Steel by Nippon.  NPR discusses more on this topic HERE .