Latest Kobe Stories

Tokyo, Oct. 2 (Jiji Press)--Nippon Steel Corp. and Kobe Steel Ltd. said Thursday they will set up a joint venture to recycle steel dust and iron ore powder generated at steel mills. The joint venture, Nittetsu Shinko Metal Refine Co., will be established in mid-October with 70 pct owned by Nippon Steel and the rest by Kobe Steel. Nittetsu Shinko, to be located in Nippon Steel's Hirohata works in Himeji in the western Japan prefecture of Hyogo, will get a 20- billion-yen furnace to procure...

Tokyo, Sept. 11 (Jiji Press)--Kobe Steel Ltd. said Thursday it has signed a technological partnership agreement with Austria's voestalpine Krems GmbH to provide Japanese automakers with ultra high strength steel sheets. The agreement calls on Kobe Steel to supply the steel sheets and voestalpine Krems to provide know-how to process the products. The processing know-how is able to reduce the weight of the steel sheets by 30 pct while maintaining their strength, an advantage that allows...

Tokyo, July 31 (Jiji Press)--Three of Japan's four major steelmakers suffered profit declines in April-June, as their product price hikes failed to offset soaring costs to procure oil, coal and iron ore. The three are Nippon Steel Corp. , JFE Holdings Inc. and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. . Kobe Steel Ltd. posted profit gains in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. All four enjoyed increased sales thanks to brisk global demand for steel. Following negotiations with such big users as...

Tokyo, July 25 (Jiji Press)--Japan Airlines is considering abolishing its two daily round-trip flights connecting the western Japan city of Kobe and the southwestern city of Kagoshima at the end of January 2009, it was learned Friday. The move is part of the company's plan to streamline its domestic and international flight operations to deal with higher fuel costs, sources said. After negotiations with local governments and communities on the withdrawal, JAL plans to report the decision...

By Aubrey Woods, The Tribune, Seymour, Ind. Jul. 10--More than 100 employees of Kobelco Metal Powder will lose their jobs as a result of it being sold to a Swedish company. "The current slump of the automotive industry, which began in the later half of 2006, has accelerated from the end of 2007 and is now getting worse," Kan Kudo said in a statement about the sale of Kobelco to Höganäs AB. The sales agreement was signed Wednesday in Pennsylvania. Kudo, president and CEO of...

By The Yomiuri Shimbun Jun. 25--TOKYO -- An Osaka-based eel trader has falsely labeled grilled eels of Chinese origin as being from Isshikicho, Aichi Prefecture, it has been learned. The town is known as the nation's No. 1 producer of eels. A Kobe-based seafood wholesaler, owned by Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc., purchased the grilled eels from the trader and knowingly sold them to other companies despite the mislabeling. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry on Wednesday...

Tokyo, June 13 (Jiji Press)--A fund affiliated with the Abu Dhabi emirate of the United Arab Emirates intends to invest 10 billion yen in a private hospital for advanced medicine planned in Kobe, informed sources said Friday. The Abu Dhabi government intends to send trainees to the hospital, named Kobe International Frontier Medical Center, to learn Japan's state-of-the-art medical technology, the sources said. The center specializing in such medical care as living-donor liver...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Phoenix Suns became only the eighth team to win an NBA playoff series from 3-1 down when they crushed the Los Angeles Lakers 121-90 to clinch their first round match-up 4-3 on Saturday. Leandro Barbosa scored 26 points and Boris Diaw 21, two of seven Suns in double-figures for Phoenix in the final game of the Western Conference opening round series. A last-second basket by Kobe Bryant had given the Lakers a dramatic win in Game Four and a 3-1 series lead, but...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tearful mourners lit candles and prayed in silence in the western Japanese city of Kobe on Tuesday on the 11th anniversary of a devastating earthquake, while others held drills to try to prepare themselves for the next big quake. A predawn 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed more than 6,400 people in Kobe in 1995 and shook the faith of many Japanese in the country's earthquake precautions by toppling buildings that were supposed to have been quake-proof. Such concerns...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted twice on Tuesday to keep shipments of Japan's Kobe beef out of the United States until Tokyo ends its ban on American beef, imposed 19 months ago as a precaution against mad cow disease. Senators said the votes were a signal of frustration with Japan, traditionally the No. 1 customer for U.S. beef exports. The U.S. cattle industry says it loses $100 million each month the market is closed. "It's just unfair," said Nebraska Democrat Ben...