Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel Ltd (Kobe) has issued its financial results for the first half ended September 30 of the fiscal year 2015-16.
For the given period, Kobe Steel has reported a net profit of JPY 13.42 billion ($111.26 million), decreasing by 68.11 percent year on year. The company's consolidated net sales revenues for the first half of the current fiscal year amounted to JPY 928.6 billion ($8.06 billion), up 1.37 percent year on year.
Kobe Steel produced 3.67 million mt of crude steel in the period in question, remaining stable year on year. Kobe’s steel product sales volume in the given period increased by one percent to 2.97 million mt, compared to the same period of the previous financial year.
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 last year. As a result, the sales volume of steel products was at a similar level to the same period last year. However, lower primary raw material prices led to a decrease in the sales price, compared with the same period last year.