The company was formed in 2012 through the merger of Nippon Steel Corp. and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. It is currently Japan’s largest steelmaker and the world’s third-biggest steelmaker.

In first announcing the change last year, Nippon Steel said the name is befitting of a steelmaker whose origins lie in Japan and whose future lies in continued growth in global markets. 

Concurrent with the name change, the company has finalized deals that make Sanyo Special Steel a subsidiary of Nippon Steel and brings Sweden-based Ovako under Sanyo’s auspices. 

“From this point forward, Nippon Steel, Sanyo Special Steel and Ovako will strengthen the medium- to long-term competitiveness of our special steel businesses, bringing together the management resources of the group and promoting integrated business activities based on common business policies, strengthening our business foundations and technical capabilities,” the company said in a statement.

Nippon Steel president Eiji Hashimoto said the name change and the addition of Sanyo Special Steel mark the beginning of a new chapter in the company’s history, one in which the company will re-dedicate itself to being a global industry leader through three main avenues: technological innovation, cost reduction and global reach.

Expanding overseas will be of critical importance, he said, in light of foreign trade policies that favor domestically manufactured steel. 

“While global steel demand will continue to increase, particularly in emerging countries, the trend favoring domestic-made products and protectionism must be anticipated to accelerate. Against such a background, we will focus on injecting our management resources in markets with high potential demand growth, and in areas where we can make use of our technological and product strength,” he said. 

“At the same time, we are committed to expanding earnings power of our overseas business by raising our presence as well as by contributing to the host countries’ shift towards self-sufficiency.”