Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel Ltd has issued its financial results for the first quarter ended June 30 of the financial year 2022-23.
For the given period, Kobe Steel has reported a net profit of JPY 21.04 billion ($155.93 million), increasing from the net profit of JPY 18.9 billion recorded in the same quarter of the previous financial year. The company’s consolidated net sales revenues for the first quarter of the financial year amounted to JPY 542.8 billion ($4.02 billion), rising by 17.2 percent year on year due to the improvement in sales prices.
Kobe Steel produced 1.59 million mt of crude steel in the period in question, down by 4.2 percent year on year. Kobe’s steel product sales volume in the given period fell by 7.3 percent to 1.26 million due to a decrease in automobile production amid the impact of semiconductor chip shortages and supply chain disruptions.
In the financial year 2022-23, Kobe Steel’s crude steel production is expected to be about 6.5 million mt. The company’s sales volume is expected to amount to about 5.3 million mt in the given year, due to the slow demand recovery in the automotive industry.
