Kobe Steel’ Iron & Steel Unit Targets 50% for Only One Products

Kobe Steel’s iron & steel unit targets more than 50% of original Only One products sales rate by 2015 compared with current 30%. The unit adds 10% equivalent more sales for domestic produced products and remaining additional 10% share for offshore produced products. The unit expands production and sales network at home and abroad through 200 billion yen of capital expenditure and 1around 15 billion yen of investment in 3-year plan through fiscal 2012 ending March 2013. The unit accelerates the world supply network expansion of high tensile cold rolled flat steel by establishing new production bases in China and India along with existing Japanese and US operations.

The vice president Ikuhiro Yamaguchi said the unit creates new Only One products through mixture of diversified group to expand sales in global market. The unit targets 40% of consolidated earnings of the group when the group targets more than 200 billion yen of recurring profit in the 5-10 years vision.

The Only One products sales rate was around 40% a year ago. However, after the revision of the category to exclude products with less originality, the rate is around 30% now. The unit tries to expand the rate toward more than 50% through the accelerated research and development and investment.

The unit tries to increase the original products and global supply basis for automotive high tensile flat steel and special steel products. The unit increases the marginal production capacity of original products at Kakogawa and Kobe works. The unit launches new continuous annealing line at PRO-TEC Coating, which is US joint venture with US Steel, in March 2013. The unit studies potential Indian and Chinese joint ventures with Essar Steel and Anshan Iron and Steel.

The unit expands processing network for special steel products. The firm studies new processing plant mainly in Asia when Japanese automakers expand the local production while the unit eyes expansion at existing plants in Thailand, China and USA.

The unit also develops new applications of titanium products through the capacity of the integrated production of the group with Osaka Titanium Technologies and Japan Aeroforge. The unit expands the sales of high valued products including crankshaft, parts for nuclear power plant and steel powder.