JFE Holdings

JFE Holdings

JFE Holdings, Inc. (JFE ホールディングス株式会社, Jeiefuī Hōrudingusu Kabushiki-gaisha?, TYO: 5411) is a corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It was formed in 2002 by the merger of NKK (日本鋼管株式会社, Nihon Kōkan Kabushiki-gaisha?) and Kawasaki Steel Corporation (川崎製鉄株式会社, Kawasaki Seitetsu Kabushiki-giasha?). At the time, NKK Corp. was Japan's second largest steelmaker and Kawasaki Steel was the third largest steelmaker. Both companies were major military vessel manufacturers during World War II.

JFE's main business is steel production. It also engages in engineering, ship building, real-estate redevelopment, and LSi business. The company also operates several overseas subsidiaries, including California Steel in the United States, Fujian Sino-Japan Metal in China, and Minas da Serra Geral in Brazil. Other than steel, they are also known for products such as the bicycle tree.

JFE Holdings is the fifth largest Steel maker in the world with revenue excess of US$3 billion. JFE Holdings has several subsidiaries including JFE Engineering, JFE Steel and JFE Shoji.

NKK and Siderca S.A. of Argentina established a seamless pipe joint venture by spinning off the seamless pipe division of NKK's Keihin Works in 2000. In November 2009, JFE agreed to partner with JSW Steel, India's third-largest steel producer, to construct a joint steel plant in West Bengal.

Its shipbuilding unit, Universal Shipbuilding was created in 2002 when NKK Corp. a predecessor of JFE, merged its shipbuilding unit with that of Hitachi Zosen. In 2012, JFE merged its ship building unit, Universal Shipbuilding Corp., with Marine United Inc. of IHI after discussion started in April 2008 to form Japan Marine United Corp. It would be Japan’s largest shipbuilder.