2025/04/25Yamato executes an investment in Electra, a US-based clean iron producer

Yamato Kogyo (“Yamato”, headquarter: Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture / Representative Director and President: Mikio Kobayashi) has executed an investment in ElectraSteel (“Electra”), a producer of clean iron based in Boulder, Colorado in the United States, during its Series B fundraising. In addition to the equity investment, we have also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that includes projects to jointly develop ways to utilize Electra’s innovative iron production technology in Yamato Group’s EAFs.

Electra is a start-up company founded in 2020 and owns a unique technological expertise to produce high-purity green iron out of a variety of iron ores, including previously mined but not yet commercialized ores using an electrochemical and hydrometallurgical process. This low temperature production process can start and stop quickly, allowing the use of intermittent renewable energy. As the world accelerates the decarbonization, Electra’s clean iron is received with much excitement as the next generation metallics source for EAF steel producers around the world.

Yamato‘s vision 2030 is to “continues to embrace challenges in new business areas as it achieves and secures its position as the global leader (volume x profitability) in structural steel”. As part of this, we are actively working in peripheral areas of our core business of structural steel, aiming to diversify our iron metallics and optimize costs. This investment in Electra and collaboration with it is to realize this vision, and we are convinced that the commercialization of its technology will be an important pillar in strengthening the competitiveness of our group’s electric furnace structural steel business.

Furthermore, after this investment, we will be conducting joint experiments to verify the ability to use Electra’s iron production technology in our group’s electric furnaces and build an integrated value chain all the way through to the final products. This memorandum of understanding that we just entered is a testament that this is not just investing, but also a challenge to create long-term value by getting profoundly involved in the development of Electra’s technology as a strategic investor.

In addition, we will strengthen our association with Nucor, our long-standing JV partner in the US and an investor in Electra since its foundation. Taking this opportunity, we will take our collaboration with Nucor to the next level, not only as partners at Nucor-Yamato Steel, but also as shareholders of Electra working towards the sustainable future of the electric arc furnace steel industry together.

■Yamato Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Location: Himeji City, Hyogo, Japan
Establishment: November 1944
Business: A global steel producer that supports infrastructure throughout the world by environmentally friendly steel business
Website: http://www.yamatokogyo.co.jp/

■ElectraSteel Inc.

Location: Boulder, Colorado, USA
Establishment: May 2020
Business: A US-based new iron company that develops technologies to apply hydrometallurgy to iron refining
Website: https://www.electra.earth/