Carbon Steel: Košice Changes Hands, Deficit Thesis Intact

Research evidence excerpt

Carbon Steel: Košice Changes Hands, Deficit Thesis Intact

Update

May 14, 2026 01:43 PM GMT

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc+MCarbon Steel | Europe Alain Gabriel, CFA

Equity Analyst

Košice Changes Hands, Deficit Alain.Gabriel@MorganStanley.comIoannis Masvoulas, CFA +44 20 7425-8959

Ioannis.Masvoulas@morganstanley.com +44 20 7425-0427

Thesis Intact Adahna Ekoku

Adahna.Ekoku@morganstanley.com +44 20 7425-0578

Ferdinand Huber

Research Associate

Ferdinand.Huber@morganstanley.com +44 20 7677-2702

Carbon Steel

Europe

Industry View In-Line

What’s new? Nippon Steel, covered by Yu Shirakawa, announced yesterday its plan

to take direct ownership of U. S. Steel Košice (USSK). The transaction is scheduled

for October 1, 2026, and will transfer USSK from a wholly owned subsidiary of U. S.

Steel to a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Steel. The business will be renamed

Nippon Steel Slovakia. We see this as a potentially important step in Nippon Steel’s

European strategy, with Košice likely to become its operating hub in the region.

Europe remains an attractive high-grade steel market, supported by safeguards,

CBAM, and demand growth across Central and Eastern Europe.

Asset overview. USSK is located in Slovakia and has been in operation since 1965.

The site has 4.5mtpa of crude steel capacity across three blast furnaces,

representing ~2% of EU27+UK capacity. Downstream operations include hot rolling,

cold rolling, annealing, tinplate, galvanizing, and non-oriented electrical steel lines.

The mill produced 3.2mt of crude steel in 2025, implying ~72% utilization.

Implications for European steel. While we await further clarity on Nippon Steel’s

long-term plans for Košice, a better-capitalized and operationally enhanced asset

could support higher utilization over time.