Nippon Steel and JFE Steel Lagging Globally in Decarbonization, International NGO Releases Corporate Ranking

(March 31, 2026, Tokyo) A survey by the international climate NGO SteelWatch, which released its first "Steel Company Scorecard" today [1], revealed that none of the 18 steel manufacturers surveyed are adequately prepared for the transition to decarbonization, with Japanese companies in particular falling behind. The survey is based on publicly available corporate data up to fiscal year 2024.

Nippon Steel, Japan's largest steel manufacturer, ranked 17th out of 18 companies (16.8 out of 100 points), and JFE Steel ranked 12th (23.4 out of 100 points), both placing in the lower tier. While all surveyed steel manufacturers scored below 50 points, Nippon Steel and JFE Steel scored particularly low compared to their global peers, a situation attributed to their reliance on coal.

The primary reason Nippon Steel was evaluated in the lowest group is its focus on extending the life of high-emission coal blast furnaces rather than phasing them out. Coal consumption is on an increasing trend. In contrast, some companies evaluated in the scorecard have clear plans to cease coal use.

According to the overall assessment, despite most companies publicly announcing net-zero targets, their continued reliance on high-emission coal persists, and the expansion of low-emission technologies is progressing slowly. Each company faces a significant "transition readiness gap," meaning a gap between the level required for steel manufacturers' transition and their current initiatives.

"We expect influential steel manufacturers like Nippon Steel and JFE Steel to accelerate their efforts towards fundamental structural reforms based on the results of this scorecard," said Roger Smith, Asia Lead at SteelWatch.

Full report and link to the webpage: https://steelwatch.org/scorecard?lang=ja

Materials such as photos, charts, and company score information can be downloaded from here.

End of Release

Reference:

1. The overall score (out of 100 points) is evaluated across five categories, including "Climate Action Performance," "Target Setting and Transparency," and "Social and Environmental Impact." The average score for "Phasing out Coal" was only 10.5 points (out of 25 points), with all but four companies having recently invested in or planning to invest in coal blast furnaces. The average score for "Scaling Low-Emission Steel Production" was even lower, at just 0.6 points (out of 25 points).
2. Key findings of this scorecard include:

• Currently, none of the surveyed companies are sufficiently prepared for the transition to near-zero emissions.