Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel Ltd (Kobe) has issued its financial results for the first nine months ended December 31 of the fiscal year 2015-16.
For the given period, Kobe Steel has reported a net loss of JPY 13.85 billion ($114.7 million), compared to a net profit of JPY 64.11 billion in the same period of the previous financial year. The company's consolidated net sales revenues for the first nine months of the current fiscal year amounted to JPY 1.35 trillion ($11.18 billion), down 1.5 percent year on year.
Kobe Steel produced 5.56 million mt of crude steel in the period in question, down 0.54 percent year on year. Kobe's steel product sales volume in the given period decreased by 0.67 percent to 4.44 million mt, compared to the first nine months of the financial year 2014-15.
Kobe Steel stated that, although demand was firm in the shipbuilding sector, demand decreased in the automotive sector as new car sales in Japan continued to go down compared with the previous year. As a result, the sales volume of steel products was at a similar level to the same period of the previous year. According to the company, the world economy faces strong uncertainty and there is concern over future prospects as demand continues to decline due to the decelerating economies of China and other emerging countries.