Our History

Although JFE Steel is a pretty newly branded steel producer, established from the merger of NKK and Kawasaki Steel in April 2003, it has inherited the legacies of both NKK and Kawasaki who started steel businesses in 1912 and 1906 respectively.

Key Milestones of JFE OCTG

1943
Chita Works established as special steel plant.
1970
Small diameter seamless pipe mill (OD1"~7") begins operation.
1971
OCTG seamless pipes first shipped.
1978
Medium diameter seamless pipe mill (OD7"~16") begins operation.
1985
FOX® premium joint co-developed.
1993
Awarded the Okochi Memorial Special Production Prize for manufacturing 13Cr OCTG.
1997
KSTC established in Singapore to provide technical service.
1999
KSBEAR premium joint developed.
2000
Accumulated seamless pipe product reaches 10 million tons.
2003
JFE Steel established from the merger of NKK and Kawasaki Steel. KSCT changes name to JFETC.
2004
UHP®15Cr first shipped to the U.S market.
2009
JFE Introduces and Supplies JFETIGER® Premium Joint.
2011
Introduction of JFELION® and JFELION HW®. JFE supplies UHP®15CR pipe in sizes up to 1.35" wall thickness for use on deep shelf Gulf of Mexico.
2012
JFETC Houston formed to provide technical service.
2014
JFE Supplies UHP®17CR and JFELION® to South America.

CRA Materials

Oil country tubular goods (OCTG) were first manufactured and shipped at Chita Works Kawasaki Steel in 1971. Since then Kawasaki, now JFE, has been playing a key role of supplying high grade OCTG globally. 13Cr martensitic stainless OCTG, in particular, is JFE's core product with more than 40 % market share of stainless OCTG shipment from Japanese tube makers, who dominate more than 80% worldwide share. This CRA material was first launched from Chita Works to the market in 1984.

This was the world first attempt to produce hard-to-pierce seamless tubulars by the mannesmann-mandrel rolling method, which suits mass production and cost efficiency. Advanced type of 13Cr (HP13Cr), which has superior corrosion resistance in severe CO2 and light sour environment, was developed in 1997.

These two types of 13Cr OCTG products have been welcomed and used by customers from Super Majors, Majors, to independent and state-owned operators, and the demand of these product has been increasing.(see below chart)

New product lineup of JFE CRA, named UHP®15Cr, was just developed in 2003 and first shipped to the U.S market in 2004. This CRA product addresses is a solution for deeper mill with high pressure, high temperature conditions.

FOX® & JFEBEAR®

JFE Steel, together with Hunting Oilfield UK, codeveloped its first premium connection FOX® in 1985. With its unique "pitch change" concept, FOX® has been earning global reputation for strong gauling resistance and numerous filed tracks.

Oil and gas operators are currently drilling deeper high-deviation wells in higher pressure reservoirs. To address these severe conditions, JFE-Steel developed JFEBEAR® in 1999, a new breed of premium connection designed to withstand today's toughest well conditions.