Kobe Steel, Ltd.(株式会社神戸製鋼所,Kabushiki-gaisha Kōbe Seikō-sho), 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.
It was formed on September 1, 1905. Its location in a major city port was useful for importing and exporting iron ore and coal. Kobe Steel is the owner of the rugby team Kobe Steel 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, 2014, the company had 208 subsidiary and 62 affiliated companies across Japan, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US.
Kobe Steel is a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFJ) keiretsu.
Business segments and products
Iron & Steel: ordinary wire rod, specialty steel wire rod, specialty steel wire, ordinary steel bar, specialty steel bar, heavy plate, medium plate and sheet (hot-rolled, coldrolled, surface treated), titanium and titanium alloys, foundry pig iron and pig iron for steelmaking, stainless steel tube, specialty steel products, wholesale electric power supply
Welding: covered welding electrodes, welding wire for automatic and semi-automatic welding, flux, welding robots and welding robot systems, welding power sources, welding-related testing, analysis and consulting
Aluminum & Copper: aluminum can stock, aluminum sheet for heat exchangers and automotive use, aluminum extrusions, aluminum disk material for HDDs, aluminum foil, copper sheet and strip for semiconductors, copper sheet and strip for terminals, aluminum alloy and magnesium alloy castings and forgings
Machinery: equipment for nuclear power plants, equipment for energy and chemical fields, tire and rubber machinery, plastic processing machinery, metalworking machinery
Engineering: ironmaking plants (direct reduction), other plants and equipment (pelletizing, petrochemical, etc.), nuclear power-related plants, erosion control and disaster prevention structures, civil engineering, advanced urban transit systems
Kobelco Eco-Solutions: industrial water plants, water and sewage plants, ultrapure and pure water, industrial water and waste water treatment equipment, recycling plants for processing organic waste materials (sewage sludge and foodstuffs), municipal waste incineration and melting plants, Bulky waste recycling facilities for bulky waste, Polychlorinated biphenyl waste treatment facilities, brewing equipment, hydrogen oxygen generator, environmental analysis
Kobelco Construction Machinery: hydraulic excavators, mini excavators, wheel loaders, road-building equipment
Kobelco Cranes:crawler cranes, rough terrain cranes, work vessels
Other: sputtering targets, superconducting products, real estate services, administration of public facilities
