Japan’s JFE Steel Corp. plans to restructure its steel sheet business, starting with the shutdown of its pickling production line at its East Japan Works in Keihin by March 2027, the steelmaker said in a statement on April 2.

Also, by the end of September 2028, it will shut down its No. 4 CGL (Continuous Galvanizing Line) and other sheet-related facilities at the East Japan Works.

The restructuring is required “in order to build a stable and competitive business foundation for the future, in response to fundamental changes taking place in the domestic steel businesses,” it said.

In addition to the shutdowns, JFE Steel said it will consolidate pickled steel sheet production at the East Japan Works in Chiba and the West Japan Works in Kurashiki and Fukuyama.

“We also intend to consolidate the continuous galvanizing steel production at the West Japan Works (Fukuyama) and the cold-rolled special steel sheet production at the East Japan Works (Chiba),” it said.

The restructuring comes as JFE Steel plans to build a new electric arc furnace with 2 million metric tons/year of crude steel output at its West Japan Works at Kurashiki.

Also, it plans to start operating a new continuous galvanizing line at its West Japan Works in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, in October 2028.