Kobe Steel Ltd. Vice President Yasuo Inubushi will be appointed president, the company said Tuesday.
He will replace Koshi Mizukoshi, who will become chairman.
Inubushi, 60, joined Kobe Steel in 1967 and has been vice president since June 2002. The appointments will become effective April 1, the company said.
Mizukoshi, 65, has been president for almost five years. During his term, he turned the business around through aggressive restructuring and tieups with other steelmakers. The company was hit hard by the 1995 Kobe earthquake and depressions in steel product prices.