| Sept.
1905 |
Founded as Kobe Seikosho (Kobe Steel Works) of Suzuki Shoten,
a leading trading firm at that time. |
|
Jun. 1911 |
Incorporated as K.K. Kobe Seikosho (Kobe Steel Works, Ltd.)
with capital of 1.4 million yen. |
|
Jul. 1917 |
Inaugurated the Moji Plant. |
|
Sept. 1918 |
Increased capital to 10 million yen. |
|
Feb. 1920 |
Inaugurated the Nishi Kaigan Plant (later renamed Kobe Works
- Wakinohama Area). |
|
Feb. 1921 |
Acquired the Toba and Harima plants of Teikoku Kisen K.K. and
changed their names to Toba Denki Seisakusho (later to the Toba
Plant) and Harima Zosenjo, respectively. |
|
Apr. 1921 |
Increased capital to 20 million yen. |
|
Oct. 1928 |
Decreased capital to 10 million yen to offset accumulated losses
and increased it to 20 million yen to decrease borrowings. |
|
Dec. 1929 |
Kobe Steel's Harima Zosenjo became the shipbuilding subsidiary
Harima Zosenjo K.K. |
|
Apr. 1937 |
Inaugurated the Nagoya Plant. |
|
Jul. 1937 |
Inaugurated the Higashi Kaigan Plant (later renamed Iwaya Plant). |
|
Jul. 1937 |
Increased capital to 45 million yen. |
|
Oct. 1939 |
Inaugurated the Chofu Plant. |
|
Oct. 1939 |
Increased capital to 90 million yen. |
|
Mar. 1941 |
Inaugurated the Yamada Plant. |
|
Apr. 1942 |
Inaugurated the Okubo Plant. |
|
Jun. 1942 |
Increased capital to 180 million yen. |
|
Jan. 1943 |
Inaugurated the Hidaka Plant. |
|
Mar. 1943 |
Acquired Nihon Tessen K.K. and named it the Amagasaki Plant.
Capital increased to 182.7 million yen. |
|
Jul. 1943 |
Inaugurated the Tokyo Plant. |
|
Jan. 1944 |
Inaugurated the Noto Plant. |
|
Apr. 1944 |
Inaugurated the Matsuzaka Plant. |
|
May 1945 |
Acquired the Kochi Plant from Kochi Denki Yakin Kogyo. |
|
Jun. 1949 |
Corporate restructuring plans, prepared in accordance with the
Corporate Restructuring and Improvement Law, were approved by
the Japanese government. |
|
Aug. 1949 |
Decreased capital to 18.27 million yen to offset losses brought
about by corporate restructuring. The Chofu and the Moji plants
started as a separate company, Shinko Kinzoku Kogyo K.K., and
the Toba, Yamada, Matsuzaka and Tokyo plants started as another
company, Shinko Electric Co., Ltd. Kobe Steel continued with
the Yamate, Wakinohama, Iwaya, Nagoya, Okubo, Hidaka, Amagasaki,
Noto and Kochi plants. |
|
Oct. 1949 |
Increased capital to 418.27 million yen to repay debts incurred
in restructuring. |
|
Sept. 1950 |
Approved as an engineering contractor by the Hyogo prefectural
government. |
|
Sept. 1950 |
Closed the Noto Plant. |
|
May 1951 |
Inaugurated the Nagato Plant (currently Chofu-Kita Plant). |
|
Nov. 1951 |
Increased capital to 836.54 million yen. |
|
Aug. 1952 |
Increased capital to 1,673.08 million yen. |
|
Sept. 1953 |
Acquired the Takasago Works from the Ministry of Finance. |
|
Apr. 1954 |
The Amagasaki Plant became a subsidiary called Shinko Wire Co.,
Ltd. with capital of 100 million yen. |
|
May 1954 |
Increased capital to 3,600 million yen. |
|
Jun. 1954 |
In alliance with Pfaudler of the United States, turned the Enameled
Products Department into Shinko Pfaudler Co., Ltd., capitalized
at 135 million yen. In 1989, Shinko Pfaudler changed its name
to Shinko Pantec Co., Ltd. |
|
Jan. 1957 |
Absorbed Shinko Kinzoku Kogyo K.K., which was separated from
Kobe Steel in August 1949, and increased capital to 3,984 million
yen. |
|
Feb. 1957 |
The Construction Department became a subsidiary called Shinko
Koji K.K. with capital of 5 million yen. |
|
Aug. 1957 |
Increased capital to 7,968 million yen. |
|
Jan. 1959 |
Inaugurated Kobe Works in Nadahama, Kobe as an integrated steelworks. |
|
Oct. 1959 |
Increased capital to 12,000 million yen. |
|
Apr. 1960 |
Inaugurated the Central Research Laboratory. |
|
Sept. 1960 |
Increased capital to 20,000 million yen. |
|
Sept. 1960 |
Opened a liaison office in New York, U.S.A. |
|
Nov. 1960 |
Opened a liaison office in Düsseldorf, Germany. |
|
Mar. 1961 |
Inaugurated the Fujisawa Plant. |
|
Aug. 1961 |
Increased capital to 32,000 million yen. |
|
Oct. 1961 |
Inaugurated the Ibaraki Plant in Osaka. |
|
Mar. 1962 |
Closed the Yamate Plant and transferred its production equipment
to Ibaraki Plant. |
|
May 1962 |
Inaugurated the Okubo-Nishi Plant (later known as the Akashi
Plant). |
|
Sept. 1962 |
Increased capital to 43,200 million yen. |
|
Sept. 1964 |
Inaugurated the Asada Research Laboratory. |
|
Apr. 1965 |
Absorbed Amagasaki Steel Co., Ltd. and increased capital to
58 billion yen. Added three plants--Amagasaki, Sakai and Kure. |
|
Apr. 1965 |
Changed English name of the company from Kobe Steel Works, Ltd.
to Kobe Steel, Ltd. |
|
Oct. 1965 |
Increased capital to 58,580 million yen. |
|
Feb. 1966 |
Approved as a constructor by the Ministry of Construction. |
|
Oct. 1966 |
Sold the Sakai Plant to Nisshin Steel. |
|
Apr. 1967 |
Inaugurated the Hatano Plant. |
|
Apr. 1968 |
Inaugurated the Kakogawa Plate Mill. |
|
Aug. 1969 |
Inaugurated the Moka Plant. |
|
Mar. 1970 |
Inaugurated Kakogawa Works. |
|
Apr. 1970 |
Inaugurated the Structural Engineering Research Laboratory. |
|
Jul. 1970 |
Inaugurated the Saijo Plant. |
|
Oct. 1970 |
Increased capital to 76,154 million yen. |
|
Dec. 1971 |
Approved as a specialty constructor by the Ministry of Construction. |
|
May 1975 |
Increased capital to 101,285 million yen. |
|
Sept. 1975 |
Inaugurated the Fukuchiyama Plant. |
|
Nov. 1976 |
Opened liaison offices in Singapore and Los Angeles. |
|
Feb. 1977 |
Opened a liaison office in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. |
|
Jul. 1977 |
Inaugurated the Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory. |
|
Aug. 1978 |
Opened a liaison office in London. |
|
Feb. 1981 |
Opened a liaison office in Mexico City. |
|
Apr. 1981 |
Incorporated the New York and the Los Angeles offices as an
American corporation called Kobe Steel America Inc. |
|
Jan. 1983 |
Opened a liaison office in Melbourne, Australia. |
|
Jul. 1983 |
Invested in Yutani Heavy Industries, Ltd. |
|
Mar. 1984 |
Closed the Kochi Plant. |
|
Oct. 1984 |
Incorporated the London Office as a European subsidiary called
Kobe Steel Europe Ltd. |
|
Nov. 1984 |
Moved the Sharjah Office to Bahrain and incorporated it as a
subsidiary called Kobelco Middle East (E.C.) |
|
Aug. 1985 |
Inaugurated the Biotechnology Research Laboratory. |
|
Jan. 1986 |
Opened a liaison office in Beijing, China. |
|
Jul. 1987 |
Completed the first-phase construction of Kobe Corporate Research
Laboratories in Seishin Industrial Park, Kobe. |
|
Sept. 1987 |
Upgraded eight domestic offices to sales offices. |
|
Oct. 1987 |
Closed the Amagasaki Plant. |
|
Nov. 1987 |
Closed the Kure Plant. |
|
Dec. 1987 |
Inaugurated the Harima Plant. |
|
Apr. 1988 |
Established U.S. headquarters, Kobe Steel USA Inc., in New York
City to replace Kobe Steel America Inc. |
|
Apr. 1988 |
Closed the Moji Plant. |
|
Sept. 1988 |
Closed the Hidaka Plant. |
|
Oct. 1988 |
Inaugurated Kobe Steel Europe Ltd. Research Laboratory in Surrey,
U.K. |
|
Apr. 1990 |
Opened a liaison office in Moscow. |
|
Apr. 1990 |
Upgraded the Nagoya Sales Office to a branch office. |
|
Apr. 1990 |
Inaugurated the Tsukuba Research Laboratory and moved the Biotechnology
Research Laboratory from Kobe to the new facility. |
|
Apr. 1990 |
Inaugurated the Electronic Materials Center in Research Triangle
Park, North Carolina, U.S.A. |
|
Jul. 1990 |
Established USS/KOBE Steel Company, an equal partnership joint
venture with USX Corporation. |
|
Nov. 1990 |
Issued 200 million additional shares at the market price. |
|
Jan. 1991 |
Established KSL Alcoa Aluminum Company, Ltd. (or KAAL)--a joint
venture with the world's leading aluminum producer, Alcoa Inc.--to
produce and market aluminum can stock. |
|
Jan. 1992 |
Sold 21,660 square meters of land in Nakahama-cho, Amagasaki,
Hyogo Prefecture and plant buildings and offices totaling 2,513
square meters to Daido Sanso K.K. |
|
Apr. 1992 |
Consolidated research facilities in a new complex called Kobe
Corporate Research Laboratories in Seishin Industrial Park,
Kobe. |
|
May 1992 |
Moved the Iron and Steel Division's Iron and Steel Technology
Laboratories adjacent to Kakogawa Works. |
|
Oct. 1992 |
Listed Kobe Steel shares on the London Stock Exchange. |
|
Oct. 1992 |
Established an unlisted sponsored American Depository Receipt
(ADR) facility through the Bank of New York for over-the-counter
trading of Kobe Steel shares. |
|
Nov. 1992 |
Inaugurated the Toyohashi FA and Robotics Center. |
|
Jan. 1993 |
Closed the Mexico Office. |
|
May 1993 |
Integrated three machinery plants in Takasago Works and the
Iwaya Plant into the newly completed industrial Machinery Plant. |
|
Jan. 1995 |
The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake caused damage equivalent
to 102 billion yen to the Kobe Head Office and Kobe and Kakogawa
works. |
|
Feb. 1995 |
Partly resumed the operation of rolling facilities at Kobe Works
which had been shut down due to the earthquake. |
|
Mar. 1995 |
Closed the Nagoya Plant after the start-up of full operation
at the Daian Plant. |
|
Apr. 1995 |
Established post-quake reconstruction headquarters to restore
operations damaged by the earthquake. |
|
Feb. 1996 |
Invested in Daikan Corporation, a drum producer. |
|
Mar. 1996 |
Sold a portion of land in Ohama, Amagasaki, and the Wakinohama
and Iwaya areas in Kobe. |
|
Apr. 1996 |
Turned the specialty steel tube and pipe business into Kobe
Special Tube Co., Ltd. and the cutting tool business into Shinko
Kobelco Tool Co., Ltd. |
|
Oct. 1998 |
Dissolved business affiliation with Texas Instruments Incorporated
in KTI Semiconductor (a semiconductor manufacturer), and engaged
Micron Technology Inc. as the new partner in the joint venture.
Accordingly, the name of the joint venture was changed to KMT
Semiconductor, Ltd. |
|
Mar. 1999 |
Closed the Toyohashi FA and Robotics Center. |
|
Apr. 1999 |
Turned divisions into internal companies and introduced a system
of corporate officers. |
|
May 1999 |
Grouped the scattered offices of the Tokyo Head Office into
one building in Kita-Shinagawa, Tokyo. |
|
Jul. 1999 |
Formed a broad alliance with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation
and Mitsubishi Shindoh Co., Ltd. for copper products. |
|
Oct. 1999 |
Consolidated the construction machinery business and subsidiaries
Kobelco Construction Machinery, Ltd. and Yutani Heavy Industries,
Ltd. into a new subsidiary called Kobelco Construction Machinery
Co., Ltd. |
|
Dec. 1999 |
Established a joint venture with NOF Corporation to manufacture
welding materials for stainless steels. The new company was
named Shinko Taseto Co., Ltd. |
|
Mar. 2000 |
Issued one share in Kobe Steel, Ltd. for one share in Kobelco
Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (par value per share: 50 yen).
545,100 shares were issued in total and the capital was increased
to 213,667.24 million yen. |
|
Apr. 2000 |
Shifted the painting robot business to Kawasaki Heavy Industries,
Ltd. and the handling robot business to Okura Yusoki Co., Ltd. |
|
Apr. 2000 |
Increased equity in affiliate Nippon Koshuha Steel Co., Ltd.
from 30.6% to 51% and turned it into a subsidiary. Nippon Koshuha's
marketing rights and steelmaking operations for bearing steel
were transferred to Kobe Steel. |
|
Sept. 2000 |
Transferred the engineering plastics business to Mitsubishi
Engineering-Plastics Corporation. |
|
Dec. 2000 |
Signed a basic agreement with Sumitomo Light Metal Industries,
Ltd. to form a broad alliance in the aluminum extrusion business. |
|
Dec. 2000 |
Signed a cooperative agreement with U.S. Steel for research
and development (R&D) in the field of automotive steel sheet
technology. |
|
May 2001 |
Placed our management rights in KMT Semiconductor under the
control of Micron Technology, Inc., our joint venture partner,
by transferring all of our 75% equity in KMT to Micron. |
|
Aug. 2001 |
Established Shinko Kobe Power Inc. and transferred the wholesale
power supply business at Kobe Works to the new company. |
|
Sept. 2001 |
Signed a final agreement with Kobelco Construction Machinery
Co., Ltd. and CNH Global N.V. of the Fiat Group to form a global
alliance for construction equipment. |
|
Sept. 2001 |
Transferred the Machinery Company's BGA and CSP printed circuit
board inspection equipment business to Dainippon Screen Mfg.
Co., Ltd. |
|
Dec. 2001 |
Formed an alliance with Nippon Steel Corporation to improve
the competitiveness of the two companies through mutual support
in such areas as raw materials procurement and logistics. |
|
Dec. 2001 |
Formed a strategic global cooperation pact for specialty steel
wire rod and bar used in automotive applications with Italy's
Lucchini Group, Europe's top manufacturer of specialty steel
long products. |
|
Jan. 2002 |
Signed a cooperation agreement with Austria's voestalpine Stahl
GmbH for automotive steel sheet technologies. |
|
Mar. 2002 |
Absorbed real estate subsidiary, Shinko Kosan, Ltd. and established
the Real Estate Company. This increased Kobe Steel’s capitalization
by 1.5 billion yen to 215.1 billion yen. |
|
Apr. 2002 |
The 700,000-kilowatt No. 1 Power Plant of Shinko Kobe Power
Inc. began commercial operation. |
|
May 2002 |
Agreed with Kawasaki Steel Corporation to form an alliance to
strengthen both companies’ welding businesses. Areas include
research and development of welding consumables, production
and procurement. |
|
Nov. 2002 |
Agreed to establish a Joint Study Committee with Nippon Steel Corporation and Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. Also concluded agreements with Nippon Steel, for enhanced collaboration and cross shareholding, and with Sumitomo Metals, for a broad alliance and cross shareholding. |
|
Nov. 2002 |
Established Kobe Welding of Tangshan Co., Ltd. - a joint venture of Shinsho Corporation, Matsushita Industrial Equipment Co., Ltd. and China's Tangshan Kaiyuan Electric Co., Ltd. |
|
Jan. 2003 |
Issued additional 107 million shares for third-party allocation to Nippon Steel Corporation and Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. Accordingly, the capital was increased to 218,163,248,065 yen. Kobe Steel also invested in both companies. |
|
Mar. 2003 |
Acquired additional shares in Sumitomo Titanium Corporation (increasing the equity share to 24.8% from 8.8%), turning it into an equity-valued affiliate. |
|
Apr. 2003 |
Consolidated the marketing and design divisions of our crushing equipment business with those of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. into a new 50/50 joint venture called Earth Technica Co., Ltd. |
|
Apr. 2003 |
Transferred 65% of its outstanding shares held in Genesis Technology Inc., a semiconductor testing business, to GTI Holdings. |
|
May 2003 |
Agreed with Shinko Pantec Co., Ltd. to combine Kobe Steel's environmental business in the Infrastructure and Engineering Company into Shinko Pantec in October 2003, and rename the new entity Kobelco Eco-Solutions Co., Ltd. |
|
May 2003 |
Established Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products LLC, a joint venture with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Toyota Tsusho Corporation, to manufacture and market aluminum forgings for automobile suspension systems in the United States. |
|
Aug. 2003 |
Announced plans to expand the existing alliance with Alcoa Inc. in automotive aluminum and discontinue the can stock joint ventures. |
|
Oct. 2003 |
Established KOBE JFE Welding Co., Ltd. with JFE Steel Corporation and consigned solid wire production at both companies to the new entity. |
|
Apr. 2004 |
Consolidated the copper tube businesses in Japan and Asia with those of Mitsubishi Material Corporation into a joint venture called Kobelco & Materials Copper Tube, Ltd. |
|
Apr. 2004 |
Turned the crane business at Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. into a 100% owned subsidiary called Kobelco Cranes, Co., Ltd. |
| Apr. 2004 |
Shinko Kobe
Power Inc.'s No. 2 Power Plant began commercial operation.
(Together with the No. 1 Power Plant, Kobe Steel has a power
generation capacity of 1.4 million kW and is Japan's largest
wholesale supplier of electricity.) |
| Apr. 2004 |
Kobelco & Materials
Copper Tube, Ltd. was formed from Kobe Steel's copper tube
business in Japan and Southeast Asia and Mitsubishi Materials
Corporation's copper tube business. As a result, Kobe Copper
(Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. became Kobelco & Materials Copper
Tube (M) Sdn. Bhd. Mitsubishi's Thai subsidiary became Kobelco & Materials
Copper Tube (Thailand) Co., Ltd. |
| Sept. 2004 |
Established
Japan Medical Materials Corporation by combining Kobe Steel's
Medical Implants & Materials Department with the medical
materials business of Kyocera Corporation. |
| Mar. 2005 |
Nippon Steel
Corporation, Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. and Kobe Steel
agreed to further enhance their cooperation under their three-way
alliance. |
| Apr. 2005 |
KOBE-JFE Welding
Co., Ltd. was renamed Kobe Welding Wire Co., Ltd. Kobe Steel
also acquired 80% of the stock of JFE Welding Rod Co., Ltd. |
| Sept. 2005 |
Kobe Steel
marked the 100th anniversary of its foundation. |
| Oct. 2005 |
Kobe Steel's
real estate business was transferred to subsidiary Kobe Development,which
in turn was renamed Shinko Real Estate Co., Ltd. At the same
time eight related companies became group companies of Shinko
Real Estate. The eight companies were Shinko Insurance Service,
Hachinohe Waterfront Development, G-clef Service, Shinko Kosan
Kensetu, Shinko Real Estate Building Service, Shinko Real Estate
Expert Service, Shiroyama Kaihatu and Aono Resort. |
| Mar. 2006 |
Kobe Steel,
Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Industries agreed to study
countermeasures in the event that an unsolicited takeover bid
is made to one of the three companies. |
| Apr. 2006 |
Turned its
corporate logo mark, KOBELCO, into a group brand. |
| Apr. 2006 |
Adopted a
policy in the event a substantial amount of company shares
is attempted to be purchased (anti-takeover measures). |
| Sept. 2006 |
Started commercial
operation of the No. 5 continuous bloom caster at Kobe Works.
The No. 4 billet caster was subsequently shut down. |
| Jan. 2007 |
Dissolved
two joint ventures with Alcoa for the transportation industry.
The two ventures were Kobe Alcoa Transportation Products, Ltd.
and Alcoa Kobe Transportation Products Inc. Technical collaboration
with Alcoa was continued. |
| Apr. 2007 |
Decided to
adopt a new large-scale purchase policy of its shares (anti-takeover
measures), subject to final approval at the general shareholders
meeting in June. |
| May 2007 |
Restarted
Kakogawa Works' No. 2 blast furnace. As a result, the No. 1
blast furnace was shut down. |
| Dec. 2007 |
Relit the No. 3 blast furnace at Kobe Works
after rebuilding it in an extremely short time of 45 days. |
| Apr. 2008 |
Transferred entire equity stake in crushing
equipment joint venture EarthTechnica Co., Ltd. to joint-venture
partner Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. |
| May. 2008 |
Kobe Steel and Kobelco Construction Machinery
Group donated two excavators and four wheel loaders (valued
at 4 million yuan) to Chengdu, Sichuan Province in China to
assist in the recovery efforts of the Sichuan Earthquake. In
addition, a monetary donation of 1 million yuan was also made. |
| Jul. 2008 |
Agreed to transfer the steel powder business
of its U.S.-based subsidiary Kobelco Metal Powder of America,
Inc. to North American Höganäs, Inc., a subsidiary
of Sweden's Höganäs AB |
| Dec. 2008 |
Inaugurated the UBC Demonstration Plant
in South Kalimantan, Indonesia and began large-scale demonstrative
plant operation for upgraded brown coal. |
| Jan. 2009 |
Commemorated the 50th anniversary
of integrated steel production. |
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