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JFE Standards of Business Conduct

Local Activities

We are engaged in corporate activities across the globe. Continuing to do business requires that we forge relationships of trust with local communities and realize sustainable growth together by contributing to the development of each region in which we operate as well as by pursuing development at manufacturing sites where our steelworks are located. In addition to consistently taking action to ensure safety and reduce the environmental impact of our corporate operations, we also conduct initiatives that serve the public with a focus on protecting the environment, nurturing the next generation, promoting sports and culture, and revitalizing regional communities.

The operation of our steelworks involves massive production facilities and significantly impact the region's employment and economy as well as environmental air and water quality. Our steel business seeks to revitalize local communities as an important means for deepening understanding of the JFE Group among local residents and mutually promoting regional development.

In addition, we provide paid leave programs that can be used to promote volunteer work to encourage the active participation of employees.

Opening Manufacturing Sites to the Public

Every year, the JFE Group opens its manufacturing facilities to residents in local host communities for demonstrations, tours and other events.

On-site Events in FY2019^*

*The list below shows results for FY2019 as the events in FY2020 were canceled to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In addition, on-site recreational facilities are made available for community sports such as soccer, baseball, volleyball and basketball as well as other events sponsored by Group companies. Coaching sessions are offered by company baseball and track teams, which compete in Japan's top-level corporate leagues. Such activities promote sports and health as well as stronger relationships with host communities.

Tour of Steelworks

Every year, JFE Steel invites over 100,000 guests^* , mostly elementary and junior high school students from host communities, to tour steel production sites at each steelwork, in conjunction with festivals and other events.

*In FY2020, we received visitors (about 30,000) after reducing the size of the tours and implementing adequate measures for preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Education at Elementary Schools

JFE Steel conducts plant tours for students at nearby elementary schools. In addition, company employees visit schools to give lectures on iron and steelmaking processes, the features of steelworks, environmental initiatives and other topics to deepen understanding of the steel industry. These lectures have been given to over 233 classes since its start in FY2012. In FY2017, the company conducted the first class at a school for hearing impaired children.

Support for External Organizations

Contributing to the realization of a sustainable society is a key management concern for the JFE Group, which actively seeks to address issues in collaboration with external groups and NGOs in pursuing solutions for the 17 SDGs.

UN World Food Programme

The JFE Group seeks to resolve the global hunger issue by supporting the cause and activities of the Japan Association for the World Food Programme^*.

*An NPO-accredited supporter of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), which works to eliminate hunger and poverty.

Supporting Training for Foreign Medical Professionals

The JFE Group supports the Japanese Council for Medical Training, spearheaded by the Toranomon Hospital in Tokyo. The council offers a training program in which doctors from developing countries, primarily in Southeast Asia, are invited to study in Japan. The program aims to make an international contribution by training participants in Japan's advanced medical practices so trainees can apply their results to raise the medical standards of their home countries and to foster stronger relationships between those nations and Japan. The program also contributes to resolving health issues in local communities by enhancing the medical standards of those countries.

Refer to the following for more information.

Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research

Since its establishment in 1908, the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research has upheld its basic philosophy of aiming to improve the well-being of people everywhere by achieving better cancer control. The JFE Group supports this foundation, which has played a leading role in research and treatment as well as human resource development in Japan.

Fund to Support Children's Future

The JFE Group endorses the Japanese government's national campaign for creating a society in which every child can grow with dreams and hopes. The Group supports the Fund to Support Children's Future, which provides assistance to NPOs and other groups engaged in activities to eliminate poverty throughout Japan.

Support for Youth Development

Japanese Language Speech Contest

The JFE Group supports the All-China Japanese Speech Contest for university students in China as a way to promote stronger international exchange. The contest has been held since 2006 to further Japan-China relations through language and communication, and JFE has provided support from its launch. Through this activity, the JFE Group contributes to the development of Japanese language education in China and the promotion of friendly exchanges between the two countries.

Career Education for Students

JFE Steel and JFE Engineering provide plant tours for female junior high school, high school and university students to encourage them to pursue careers in science and technology.

Since 2006, JFE Steel has participated in the Keizai Koho Center's "Business Training for Japanese School Teachers." Teachers from primary, junior high and high schools learn about business operations, human resource development, safety and environment-protection-related initiatives, among other topics, with the intention of sharing that knowledge with their students and leveraging it for better school management. In addition, some facilities invite local junior high students and host work-experience sessions.

As part of career education for high school and junior high school students, Kawasho Foods Corporation, a member of the JFE Shoji group, cooperates with the School Support Center, a specified Nonprofit Corporation, to invite students for training. The participants learn how society is supported by specific kinds of work as well as the products and services related to such work.

FY2020 Internships

The JFE Group annually hosts many trainees and interns from overseas to help them gain practical experience at plants as well as design and construction sites. They also participate in group work.

■Number of Interns Accepted by Each Operating Company (FY2020)

High School Science and Engineering Contest

The Japan Science & Engineering Challenge is a national science-paper contest for high school and technical college students. Under the sponsorship of the Asahi Shimbun Company and TV Asahi Corporation, the contest has been supported by JFE Steel since 2006 to nurture future scientists and engineers.

Supporting Elementary Schools in Ghana and Nigeria

Since 2011, the JFE Shoji Group has continuously supported elementary schools in the West African countries of Ghana and Nigeria as part of its CSR activities. To address deficiencies in the local educational environment, it has also focused on donating goods related to education and food, which are essential for the sound development of children and greatly appreciated by the schools and governments in the countries. While the donation ceremony was canceled in FY2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Group donated 17,000 notebooks, 12,500 cans of food, and 12,500 masks for children in an effort to prevent infection.

The JFE Shoji Group is committed to continuing this project into the future that symbolizes the Group's commitment.

Supporting School Meals in Developing Countries

JFE Shoji participates in an activity led by TABLE FOR TWO International, a specified Nonprofit Organization, in which a donation equivalent to one school meal for children in developing countries is made for every designated meal purchased by employees in the company's cafeteria.

Supporting Off-Campus Training by Special-Needs Schools

The JFE Shoji Group has been providing off-campus training opportunities for students at schools for special needs since FY2017. Training mainly consists of gaining work experience by serving coffee and cleaning and learning about distribution by introducing and selling sweets and coffee shop goods produced at their schools.

JFE 21st Century Foundation

The JFE 21st Century Foundation was founded in 1990 through a donation from the JFE Group (the former Kawasaki Steel) to operate as a public-service corporation that contributes to society. It engages in various public services, such as supporting research at universities and cultural development.

For more on the JFE 21st Century Foundation, refer to the following information.

Support for Technology Research

The foundation has been highly acclaimed by many universities for its support of technology research since FY1991.

In FY2020, it fielded 147 grant requests and provided a total of 44 million yen in the form of grants valued at 2 million yen each for 9 projects involving iron and steel technologies and 13 projects related to environmental technologies, including those designed to prevent global warming.

Support for Asian History Studies

The foundation began awarding grants in support of Asian history studies at Japanese universities in FY2005. In FY2020, 59 applications were received and 8 grants worth 1.5 million yen each were awarded, bringing the total to 12 million yen.

Support Activities in Communities Hosting Steel Facilities

The foundation financially sponsors community cultural activities including music, art, traditional events, community revitalization, community activities and the conservation of cultural property.

In FY2020, it sponsored seven events in regions across Japan where the Group operates its steel business, including Chiba, Kawasaki and Fukuyama cities.

Supporting the Japan Overseas Educational Services Writing Contest and Anthology Donation

The Japan Overseas Educational Services organizes contests in the areas of essays, poems, tanka and haiku for Japanese students attending elementary and middle schools overseas. The JFE Group has been cosponsoring the contest by offering JFE 21st Century Foundation prizes since FY1991. The foundation also donated 2,400 copies of "Chikyu ni Manabu" (Learn from the Earth), a collection of the winning entries again in FY2020, to 663 elementary and middle schools and 73 public libraries in the regions where the Group operates its steel business.

List of Social-contribution Activities

*Postponed or canceled in FY2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contribution to Local Communities through the Engineering Business

We contribute to realizing a circular economy in local communities by combining businesses such as renewable energy power generation, utility services, food recycling, and waste-to-energy power generation.

Development and Provision of Eco-friendly Processes and Products