Japan Major 5 Stainless Makers Post Strong Results for F2006

Japanese major stainless steel makers posted favorable results for fiscal 2006 ended March 2007 when the sales and profit increased due to higher raw materials cost, higher output and higher selling price. Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel (NSSC) and Nippon Metal Industry posted record sales and NSSC, Nippon Yakin Kogyo, Nippon Metal Industry and Nippon Kinzoku posted record recurring profit. NSSC increased the sales volume by 73,000 tonnes to 1.063 million tonnes for the parent company in fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005. Nippon Metal Industry increased the volume by 70,000 tonnes to 380,000 tonnes. The averaged selling price increased by around 60,000 yen for NSSC and by around 90,000 yen for Nippon Metal Industry. The higher price lifted the sales value. They also increased the sales of high valued items including high performance materials for Nippon Yakin Kogyo and strategic items for Nippon Metal Industry and Nippon Kinzoku. The offshore sales increased by 48.5% to 37.4 billion yen for Nippon Yakin Kogyo, to 2.1 times at 62.8 billion yen for Nippon Metal Industry, by 31.4% to 8.2 billion yen for Nippon Kinzoku and by 18.6% to 4 billion yen for Takasago Tekko in fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005.