Nippon Steel (TYO:5401) Slovak unit U.S. Steel Kosice (USSK) has decided to invest 900 million euros in a new Electric Arc Furnace and a new Air Separation Unit at Košice Steelworks.
On Sept. 15, USSK signed a grant agreement with the Government of the Slovak Republic, enabling access to grants of up to 350 million euros from the EU Modernization Fund, according to a statement on Wednesday.
The new electric arc furnace will have an annual production capacity of approximately 1.6 million metric tons and will be operated together with the existing blast furnace facilities, enabling USSK to achieve both a stable supply of high-quality steel and a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.
USSK will become a direct subsidiary of Nippon Steel effective Oct. 1, and will change its name to Nippon Steel Slovakia, with Nippon Steel positioning the subsidiary as its core operating hub in Europe within its global strategy.