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Japanese Steel Mills to Spend Billions to Fend Off Arcelor

  • JFE set to shell out more than $6 billion overhauling output
  • Nippon Steel has outlined plans to raise expenditure by 35%
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Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
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Japan’s two biggest steelmakers expect to spend more than $20 billion in the next three years to revamp plants, expand production of high-quality metal for electric vehicles and boost operational efficiency to fend off rivals such as ArcelorMittal, Posco and producers in China.

JFE Holdings Inc., the second-largest, will shell out more than $6 billion over the period, Executive Vice President Shinichi Okada said in an interview. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., the biggest, outlined a plan just last week to raise capital expenditure by 35 percent to about 1.7 trillion yen ($16 billion).