JFE Steel to Idle Steel Plate Plant Operations in Japan

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Tokyo, Japan-headquartered JFE Holdings that owns JFE Steel announced its decision to idle part of its steel plate manufacturing operations in Japan. The decision is mainly on account of falling steel demand and faltering global economic growth situation.

According to company press release, some of the production lines at its East Japan Works' Keihin area facilities in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture will be idled by the end of March this year. In addition, works at some facilities in the Chiba area will come to a halt by March 2023. All the 360 affected workers affected by the closure will be relocated to other position, the press release said.

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JFE Executive Vice President Masashi Terahata said that the company is currently undertaking a review of its domestic as well as overseas operations, as part of its optimization efforts, in line with the deteriorating market conditions. The company may be forced to declare additional production cuts in future, he warned.

Earlier, leading steelmaker Nippon Steel had announced its decision to shut down its subsidiary’s Kure Works in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, by the end of September 2023, as part of realignment of operations to achieve reduced cost of operation.