Producer
Proterial Ltd. (formerly Hitachi Metals)
Specialty-steel maker; high-speed steel and the famous YSS "white/blue paper" knife/tool steels.
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Inputs supplied
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Goods downstream
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Facilities
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Stories
What they make
2 inputs Proterial Ltd. (formerly Hitachi Metals) supplies
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What else they do
Business segments
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Specialty steels
Magnetic materials
Automotive castings & components
Electronic & wire materials
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Did you know2024
The radar found Proterial through steel — it makes the famous YSS "white paper" and "blue paper" steels prized by Japanese knife makers, and dominates the base stainless for razor blades. But the same company, formerly Hitachi Metals, is also one of the few major non-Chinese makers of neodymium (NdFeB) rare-earth magnets, and historically held foundational patents on sintered NdFeB. Those magnets are the strongest permanent magnets made — essential to EV motors, wind turbines, robotics and guided missiles — and their production is overwhelmingly concentrated in China. So the company behind your razor blade and a sushi chef's knife is also a strategic counterweight in the rare-earth-magnet security contest. It's a classic dual-use surprise: the maker of humble blade steel is simultaneously central to one of the most contested supply chains of the EV-and-defense era, and a key piece of how the non-Chinese world hopes to source magnets outside China.
Proterial, Ltd. ↗