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Basic Policy

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. To this end, the JFE Group is committed to working with communities as stated in the JFE Standards of Business Conduct and is promoting activities that contribute to local 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.

JFE Group Standards of Business Conduct

Initiatives

Local Activities

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.

Furthermore, 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 FY2022*

*Events were held with measures in place 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 FY2021, we received visitors (about 40,000) 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 and career opportunities. These lectures have been given to over 270 classes since its start in FY2012. In FY2017, the company conducted the first class at a school for hearing impaired children. In FY2017, the company conducted the first class at a school for hearing impaired children.

Establishment of a System for Promoting Social Co-existence Activities

In FY2022, JFE Engineering established the Social Co-existence Committee, chaired by the president, to bolster social initiatives and enhance its contribution to realizing a sustainable society in accordance with the JFE Group Standards of Business Conduct. Under the policies set by JFE Engineering, the scope of committee activities encompasses initiatives implemented through its businesses as well as those for resolving social issues not covered by business activities, while the four themes of the environment, disaster prevention, local communities, and nurturing the next generation are designated as the key areas. Collaborating with local communities is essential for the company, which operates businesses in various locations. Nurturing the next generation is in line with JFE Engineering's stated purpose of strongly supporting people's daily lives and passing community strengths on to future generations . Under the system, leaders have been assigned in each organization to promote activities across the company.

In FY2023, the company laid out guidelines for its system in order to set the stage for its activities. In addition, it designed an original logo and selected a catchphrase from entries submitted by employees to spread awareness and promote employee participation. The logo combines a circle of smiling faces created by the employee activities and the silhouette of a gear wheel that symbolizes the technology in JFE Engineering's business. It was designed to help people of all ages understand what the company does. The catchphrase conveys the message that JFE Engineering will work hand in hand with various stakeholders to care for society and live well into the future.

In addition to its various initiatives, JFE Engineering will further strengthen its activities by expanding opportunities for employees to participate and by providing education to deepen understanding of the concept of social co-existence.

Environmental Protection Activities in the Kumozu River Basin in Mie Prefecture

JFE Engineering is the founding member of a committee set up in 2008 for protecting the environment in the Kumozu River basin in Mie Prefecture, including Tsu City, where the company's Tsu Works is located. Together with the local forestry and fisheries cooperatives, which are also members, and with support from Tsu City, the committee conducts river cleanups and tree planting activities in the river basin, as well as beach cleanups at the mouth of the river and public environmental education, in which employees and their families participate.

Facility Tours and School Lectures

JFE Engineering accepts visitors, mainly children from neighboring communities, and gives them tours of the works, construction sites, and incineration plants it manages under contract. The company also dispatches its employees to schools to provide lectures on the environment and other topics.

For example, a lecture on the environment and recycling was given to around 80 second-year students at the Junior High School Attached to Yokohama Science Frontier High School near JFE Engineering's Yokohama Head Office, followed by a visit to the Yokohama Head Office. Students learn through both classroom lectures and on-site experience by touring a food recycling plant operated by a Group company and the Global Remote Center , which remotely monitors incineration plants. This initiative has been implemented for five consecutive years since its launch in 2018.

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.

For more information, please refer to the following.

JCMT

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.

FY2022 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 (FY2022)

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

As part of its sustainability efforts, the JFE Shoji Group has been conducting annual donation campaigns in Ghana and Nigeria since 2011. The donations take into account local needs, and JFE Shoji mainly selects products it manufactures locally to contribute to the economic activities of the two countries. This year for the twelfth donation campaign, the JFE Shoji Group donated 12,500 cans of GEISHA brand canned mackerel with tomato sauce, 475 sets of desks and chairs, and 17,000 notebooks to 15 schools in the two countries. School officials and local government agencies expressed gratitude for the donations.

The JFE Shoji Group will continue to provide support for food and education into the future, as a project that symbolizes the Group's commitment.

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, cleaning up, and learning about distribution by introducing and selling sweets and coffee shop goods produced at their schools.

As a company that values open relationships with society, JFE Shoji will continue to support self-reliance and social participation so that people with disabilities can lead vibrant lives in their own way.

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.

Issued technical research grants (steel-related technology, global environment, technology for preventing global warming)

Issued grants for Asian historical research

Published and donated textbooks for universities and publications related to steel

Sponsored cultural activities in communities hosting steel facilities

Held Overseas Literary Contest and donated literary works

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

JFE 21st Century Foundation

Data related to the JFE 21st Century Foundation

Support for Technology Research

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

In FY2022 , it fielded 103 grant requests and provided a total of 56 million yen in the form of grants valued at 2 million yen each for 13 projects involving iron and steel technologies and 15 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 FY2021, 50 applications were received and 12 grants worth 1.5 million yen each were awarded, bringing the total to 18 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 FY2022 , it sponsored nine 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 2,300 copies of Chikyu ni Manabu (Learn from the Earth), a collection of the winning entries, again in FY2022, to 690 organizations, including elementary and middle schools and public libraries located in the regions where the Group operates its steel business.

List of Social-contribution Activities

Contribution to Local Communities through the Engineering Business

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

Development and Provision of Eco-friendly Processes and Products