Japan Major Stainless Makers Post Lower Profits in 1H

Japanese major 5 stainless steel makers posted lower sales and recurring profits for a half year to September compared with the same period of 2007. They posted large inventory evaluation loss due to high material costs. Their selling volume decreased especially for nickel series stainless steel sheet due to conservative buying of users. Their selling volume for domestic market and export is expected to keep year-on-year lower level due to slow demand worldwide.

Nippon Yakin Kogyo announced on Friday the firm posted 68.7% lower operating profit for the half year from the same period of 2007. The selling volume kept flat while decreased selling price reduced the operating profit by 24.9 billion yen. The firm expects the selling volume would decrease by 14.3% to 240,000 tonnes through fiscal 2008 from the previous fiscal year while the recurring profit would become red at around 2 billion yen through fiscal 2008.

Nippon Kinzoku’s selling volume and sales turnover decreased for April-September compared with the same period of 2007 due to dropped demand from automobile components or digital appliances.

Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel’s selling volume increased by 2.2% to 506,000 tonnes thanks to good market condition of plate, bar, wire and chrome series cold-rolled stainless steel sheets during April-September.

Nippon Yakin Kogyo kept the selling volume at 166,000 tonnes and Nippon Kinzoku at 142,000 tonnes. For Oct08-Mar09, they expect the selling volume decrease significantly.