Material Balance

The Kobe Steel Group undertakes environmentally conscious management through every aspect of its operations.

As part of this approach, the Group continuously strives for greater energy efficiency; effective use of byproduct gases, waste heat, water and other resources; and the recycling of byproducts.

Resource and Energy Use at Kobe Steel

Iron & Steel Business

At Kobe Steel, 92 percent of energy use is in the Iron & Steel Business. In fiscal 2016, this business unit used 11.01 million tons of iron ore; 5.99 million tons of coking coal and coke; 9PJ*1 of fuels such as coal, oil and city gas; and 600,000 MWh of purchased power. Nearly all of the byproduct gases – including coke oven gas, blast furnace gas and converter gas – derived from production processes are effectively reused as fuel for reheating steel or for use in in-house power plants. Kobe Steel also proactively undertakes power generation that utilizes waste heat. Combined with the power generated from byproduct gases, over 60 percent of the power required by production processes is generated through energy recovery.

Insofar as possible, byproducts produced during production processes, such as steel slag*2, dust and sludge, are also turned to effective use as raw materials in applications such as cement and roadbeds. Together with in-company reuse, 96 percent of the byproducts are recycled in this manner.

In the future, Kobe Steel will continue to carry out environmentally friendly practices throughout all aspects of its operations, striving for more efficient use of resources and energy and advancing the development of new technologies to that end.

*1 1PJ=1015J

*2 Iron and steel slag is a byproduct separated and recovered during iron and steel refining.
(It is also called blast furnace slag or steelmaking slag.)

Resource and Energy Use in the Iron & Steel Business (Fiscal 2016)

Resource and Energy Use in the Iron & Steel Business (Fiscal 2016)

Welding Business

Using metal wire rods, hoops, fluxes, soluble glass and other raw materials, the Welding Business produces welding electrodes and welding wires. In fiscal 2016 the Fujisawa, Ibaraki, Saijo and Fukuchiyama plants used a combined 160,000 tons of raw materials, 61,000 MWh of electricity, and 0.2 PJ of city gas and other fuels to manufacture 150,000 tons worth of products. This generated 14,000 tons of byproducts, of which 98 percent was successfully recycled.

Resource and Energy Use in the Welding Business (Fiscal 2016)

Input   Output
Raw materials   Products
Wire rods, hoops, fluxes, soluble glass, etc. 160,000 t   Welding rods, welding wires, etc. 150,000 t
Energy   Byproducts
Purchased power 61,000 MWh   Amount produced 14,000 t
City gas, etc. 0.2 PJ   Recycling ratio* 98%

Aluminum & Copper Business

Using ingots and scrap as raw materials, the Aluminum & Copper Business produces a variety of aluminum and copper products. In fiscal 2016 the business unit used 490,000 tons of raw materials, 510,000 MWh of electricity, and 4.3 PJ of city gas and other fuels to create 440,000 tons of products. During melting and casting, 31,000 tons of byproducts, such as slag, dust and wastewater sludge, were produced. However, 97 percent of these byproducts were successfully recycled.

Resource and Energy Use in the Aluminum & Copper Business (Fiscal 2016)

Input   Output
Purchased power   Products
Aluminum ingots, copper ingots, etc. 490,000 t   Aluminum and copper products 440,000 t
Energy   Byproducts
Purchased power 510,000 MWh   Amount produced 31,000 t
City gas, etc. 4.3 PJ   Recycling ratio* 97%

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