Nippon Steel president Eiji Hashimoto is casting his decision to buy U.S. Steel for over $14 billion in geopolitical terms. The deal is set to transform the metals industry, creating a new steelmaking giant. This new company would dominate the sector "excluding China, in the free-competition world," the Harvard-educated Hashimoto said, according to the Wall Street Journal.
China currently dominates the steel industry. Six of the world's top 10 steel producers are from China, with the state-owned Baowu Group leading the pack, according to data from the World Steel Association. Nippon Steel, currently ranked fourth, would rise to third place after acquiring U.S. Steel. (ArcelorMittal, formed in 2006 from the merger of European company Arcelor and Indian steelmaker Mittal Steel, is the world's second largest producer).
