Nippon Steel Plans Extra 1.3-B.-Dlr Investment in U.S. Steel

Tokyo, Aug. 29 (Jiji Press)--Nippon Steel Corp. plans to invest an additional 1.3 billion dollars in United States Steel Corp., the Japanese steelmaker said Thursday.

If the planned acquisition of U.S. Steel goes through, Nippon Steel will invest in U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and Gary Works in Indiana, in addition to its investment of 1.4 billion dollars by 2026 pledged by the company to the United Steelworkers, or USW, labor union.

Nippon Steel will invest at least 1 billion dollars to replace or upgrade hot strip mills at Mon Valley Works, while around 300 million dollars will be spent on the No. 14 blast furnace at Gary Works to extend its operational life by up to 20 years.

While Nippon Steel's buyout of U.S. Steel has been agreed by both companies, the USW is vehemently against the deal.

Through the additional investments, Nippon Steel hopes to gain more understanding for the transaction, given that both the Democrats and Republicans have voiced opposition ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]