The U.S. Steel pig iron caster at the Gary Works, Ind. The Nippon deal faces scrutiny. Credit: U.S. Steel
M&A across all industries rose 16%, Todd Sibilla, a commodity applications specialist at Bloomberg, told the conference. But deals with diversified miners, like Glencore buying Teck Resources’ coal assets last year, plunged 94% this year compared with 2023, Sibilla said. Now, its contribution to defence is minor, it employs 23,000 and needs investment to modernize, Karafotias said. Nippon is not state-owned and Japan is a strong Western ally, he added.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if these aren’t things that can be sort of worked through and measures put in place to protect US interests,” he said. “Come November and once we get past the election, there may be scope to see this deal get done.