Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel Ltd has issued its financial results for the first nine months ended December 31 of the fiscal year 2021-22.
For the given period, Kobe Steel has reported a net profit of JPY 54 billion ($468.45 million), increasing from the net profit of JPY 3.8 billion recorded in the first nine months of the previous financial year. The company’s consolidated net sales revenues for the first nine months of the current financial year amounted to JPY 1.48 trillion ($12.88 billion), rising by 22.6 percent year on year. The increase in the company’s net sales was due to an increase in sales volume mainly in the automotive sector and higher raw material prices.
Kobe Steel produced 4.99 million mt of crude steel in the period in question, up 20.8 percent year on year. Kobe’s steel product sales volume in the given period rose by 18.3 percent year on year to four million mt, mainly due to the recovery in demand.
In the financial year 2021-22, Kobe Steel’s crude steel production is expected to be about 6.6 million mt, falling from 6.7 million mt in the previous forecast. The company’s sales volume of steel products is expected to total about 5.35 million mt in the given year, down from 5.5 million mt in the previous forecast, due to lower demand for automobiles.