Stakeholder Engagement

The JFE Group strives to maintain agreeable and favorable relationships with all stakeholders, including Stakeholder Engagement shareholders, customers, clients, employees, and local communities, for the sustainable growth and medium- to long-term increase of corporate value.

JFE Group Standards of Business Conduct

Engagement with Major Stakeholders

1. *1Number of issues published is for the JFE GROUP REPORT, and the JFE Group Sustainability Report is only posted online.
2. *2Questionnaire targeting all employees for surveying the level of satisfaction and applying results to initiatives and operations.
3. *3Corporate officers and managers are evaluated by co-workers and subordinates and receive feedback.

Engaging Our Shareholders and Investors

We work to disclose information accurately, fairly and in a timely and appropriate manner as well as strive for active communication. We established the Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Department as an organization responsible for communication with domestic and international shareholders and investors, and to promote constructive dialogue as well as provide management with the information acquired, with the aim of maintaining and improving the relationship of trust.

Policy on Constructive Dialogue with Shareholders and Investors

The JFE Group endeavors to enhance corporate value sustainably through dialogues with shareholders and investors, and it has established the Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Department to be responsible for promoting such constructive dialogue. The director supervising the department and director in charge are also responsible for promoting constructive dialogues with shareholders and investors, and the department takes the lead in ensuring organic collaboration between relevant departments by appropriately sharing information.

To promote active dialogue, JFE holds various briefings for institutional investors, including announcements of medium-term business plans and financial results by executive directors, and also arranges for visits to investors in Japan and overseas. With regard to individual shareholders and investors, JFE organizes briefings on corporate activity and tours of plants and other sites. Opinions, questions, and other information obtained through these dialogues are regularly collected and reported to directors and corporate officers.

In conducting the dialogues, JFE prevents any leaks of insider information and ensures fair disclosure by adhering to its disclosure policy. In addition, important press releases and IR materials are disclosed in English to provide the same information to overseas investors as to those in Japan.

For more on this, please refer to the following information.

• Investor information
• Plant tours (special benefit for shareholders) (Japanese only)
• Disclosure policy

General Meetings of Shareholders

General Meetings of Shareholders are opportunities for dialogue with shareholders, so JFE sends invitations at the earliest possible date to maximize attendance and avoid overlapping with the shareholder meetings of other companies. The company has been posting an invitation on its website at the earliest possible date while allowing online voting for shareholders who are unable to attend. JFE also strives to provide the same information to overseas investors as it does in Japan by, for example, disclosing the convocation notice in English.

For more information on the General Meetings of Shareholders, please refer to the following.

• General Meetings of Shareholders

Engaging Our Customers

The Group believes that stable supply of products and services and reliable quality assurance, along with advancing research and development, are necessary to meet customer needs.

We will work to establish win-win relationships by continuously meeting customer needs and the trust they place in us.

For more on this, please refer to the following information.

• Provide Quality Products and Enhance Customer Satisfaction

Engaging Our Suppliers

As a key business partner, we actively promote sustainability initiatives in cooperation with suppliers.

We have established a basic purchasing (procurement) policy to promote fair and honest procurement activities and build sound relationships with suppliers.

For more on this, please refer to the following information.

• Supply Chain Management

Engaging Our Employees

Recognizing that that human resources are the driving force behind corporate growth, top management has formulated human resources strategies aligned with our management strategies. It has also established the JFE Group’s Basic Policy on Human Resource Management and the JFE Group Health Declaration to promote initiatives that maximize the talents and vitality of our human resources through aggressive investment in human capital.

For more on this, please refer to the following information.

• Human Capital

Engaging the Local Community

To ensure business continuity at manufacturing bases where steelworks are located and elsewhere, constructing a relationship of trust with citizens in local communities and realizing coexistence and prosperity are crucial.

We will pursue various activities with the aim of realizing sustainable growth and regional development, including continued initiatives toward ensuring safety and reducing our environmental impact.

For more on this, please refer to the following information.

• Community

Environmental Communication

The JFE Group gives utmost priority to communicating with all stakeholders, including in matters relating to the environment. In addition to disclosing environmental information, the Group carries out extensive two-way communication between the public and the business community by supporting and participating in environment-related activities outside the Group.

Disclosing Environmental Data

Dissemination of Environmental Information and Public Outreach

Commercial Video and Special Website about JFE

We created a commercial video and special website featuring the JFE Group’s initiatives for a sustainable future to bring the Group closer to stakeholders. The video and website are titled “Sus-tetsu-nable!” with the word “tetsu” meaning iron inserted into the word “sustainable.” We hope that the video and website will help the public better understand iron as an essential element for social infrastructure and recognize the Group’s efforts as an indispensable member of society.

• Special website “Sus-tetsu-nable!” (Japanese Only)

ecobeing Environmental Website

The JFE Group provides support to ecobeing, a web magazine operated by KLEE INC., which disseminates information on the environment under the slogan, “Let’s talk more with the Earth!” The website series, ecopeople, has featured people from a variety of fields and also introduced JFE Group employees and initiatives. To date, the magazine has covered JFE Steel’s BETTER RECYCLE Shonan, featuring the project for addressing plastic pollution by increasing the application of steel sheets for can-making, and the JFE Dragonfly Path in the Tsurumi Works of JFE Engineering. In 2024, we introduced the “Public-Private Partnership for Creating a Rich Marine Environment,” a collaborative effort between Yokohama City and JFE Steel. This ongoing project launched in 2013 has demonstrated how steel slag products such as JFE’s Marine Block™ and Frontier Rock™ can be used to build an artificial bed for marine life and create new value. Many other activities and initiatives undertaken outside the JFE Group are also featured. By supporting this website magazine from an objective standpoint, the JFE Group seeks to help stimulate public discussion and awareness about ESG and the SDGs.

Please see the following for further details.

• ecobeing (Japanese only)
• Public-Private Partnership for Creating a Rich Marine Environment (Japanese only)
• JFE Steel’s steel slag products

Sponsoring Midori no Komichi Environmental Diary

The JFE Group sponsors the Midori no Komichi (Green Trail) environmental diary project hosted by Green Cross Japan with the hope that children will become more aware of environmental issues by keeping diaries of their activities and thoughts about ecology.

Please see the following for further details.

• Midori no Komichi Environmental Diary (Japanese only)

Participation in Environmental Exhibitions Such as EcoPro2024 and Tokyo Bay Festival 2024

The JFE Group’s business activities for protecting the environment have been presented at various environmental exhibitions.

EcoPro2024, one of the largest environmental exhibitions in Japan, was held in December 2024 at the Tokyo Big Sight, and the JFE Group participated under the theme: “Sus-tetsu-nable! Let’s create an environmentally friendly loop for the future!” The JFE Group develops technologies and products that efficiently use limited resources without generating waste. At our booth, we explained the high recyclability of steel and showcased technologies such as environmentally friendly steel products, power generation using waste materials, and PET bottle recycling, so that visitors could learn about a circular society through JFE’s business activities. We also sponsored an Eco Study Note for pre-visit review to aid children’s understanding. As in the previous year, our VR factory tour was also well-received.