JFE Steel to Shift Higher Valued Stainless Items

JFE Steel’s stainless unit plans to keep monthly 40,000 tonnes of output in fiscal 2007 starting April. The unit tries to increase the sales weight for original products including high corrosion resistance chrome series stainless, JFE443CT for higher profit. The firm produces monthly 4,000 tonnes of JFE443CT to supply automobile muffler. The firm increases the output to 6,000 tonnes in fiscal 2007 and 10,000 tonnes in fiscal 2008 through development of new applications. The firm tries to increase the output to 12,000-13,000 tonnes level and shifts to higher valued products for higher profit when Chinese makers expand the output aggressively. The stainless unit’s profit is lower for fiscal 2006 than expected due to higher raw materials cost. The firm tries to improve the profitability by shifting higher valued products to avoid competition with cheaper Chinese products. The firm will reduce the export to 50% in fiscal 2007 from 55-60% now. The firm tries to launch new original items with aggressive research and development while the firm keeps the capital expenditure within depreciation. The firm tries to increase the ultra thin sheet for metal honeycomb of automobile catalyst and electronics devices.