Non-oriented electrical steel sheet and method of producing same

A method of producing a non-oriented electrical steel sheet, the method comprising:

• subjecting a steel material to cold rolling once or twice or more with intermediate annealing therebetween to obtain a cold-rolled steel sheet, the steel material having a chemical composition containing, in mass %, C:
• 0.0050% or less, Si:
• 2.0% to 6.5%, Mn:
• 0.05% to 2.0%, P:
• 0.10% or less, S:
• 0.0050% or less, Al:
• 0.3% to 3.0%, N:
• 0.0050% or less, Co:
• 0.0005% to 0.0050%, Ti:
• 0.0030% or less, Nb:
• 0.0030% or less, and O:
• 0.0050% or less, with a balance consisting of Fe and inevitable impurities;
• subjecting the cold-rolled steel sheet to final annealing to produce a non-oriented electrical steel sheet;
• and
• subjecting, after the cold rolling and before the final annealing, a surface of the steel sheet to acidizing for 1 second to 60 seconds using an acid containing at least one selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid at a total concentration of 3 wt % to 30 wt %.