Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel Ltd (Kobe) has issued its financial results for the fiscal year 2012-13 ended March 31.
For the given period, Kobe Steel reported a net loss of JPY 27 billion ($275.7 million), compared to a net loss of JPY 14.24 billion in the previous financial year. The company's consolidated net sales revenues for the FY 2012-13 were JPY 1.68 trillion ($17.15 billion), down 9.6 percent year on year, largely affected by the low sales volume of steel products, the decrease in sales prices.
In the full financial year, Kobe Steel's sales of its iron and steel segment declined by 13.04 percent to JPY 742.84 billion ($7.58 billion). Although demand was strong in the domestic automotive industry until the second quarter, demand from the shipbuilding industry was sluggish throughout the year. The export environment worsened due to the weak overseas market and high Japanese yen. Sales prices declined in comparison to the previous year as demand for steel products did not improve in the significantly relaxed Asian region and raw material prices declined.
Kobe Steel produced 7.01 million mt of crude steel in the period in question, down 2.1 percent year on year. Kobe's steel product sales volume in the given period decreased by 3.66 percent to 5.79 million mt, compared to the financial year 2011-12.
According to Kobe Steel, the outlook for the financial year 2013-14, ending March 31, 2014, is unclear. Although the domestic and overseas economies are anticipated to continue to gradually recover, Europe will continue to be plagued by financial problems. The external environment surrounding Kobe Steel Group is not anticipated to quickly improve despite the lower Japanese yen and other signs of progress.