The world's fourth largest steel producer Nippon Steel Corporation has released its consolidated financial results for the Japanese fiscal year ended March 31, reporting a net profit of JPY 93.2 billion ($1.14 billion), compared to a loss of JPY 11.53 billion in the previous fiscal year, despite a loss of JPY 11.2 billion ($137.22 million) in the last quarter of the given fiscal year.
In the given fiscal year, Nippon Steel's net sales increased 17.8 percent year on year, rising to JPY 4.11 trillion ($50.4 billion).
Nippon Steel has reported a JPY 23.7 billion ($290.62 million) special loss in its consolidated accounts for FY 2010-2011 mainly to cover the cost of restoring the production facilities and equipment that were damaged or lost in the March 11 earthquake.
In the fiscal year 2010-2011, Nippon Steel's crude steel output came to 34.92 million mt, increasing by 16.71 percent, while its pig iron production rose by 21.11 percent year on year to 32.18 million mt. In line with increased production, the company's steel shipments moved up by 15.73 percent to 31.35 million mt.
Nippon Steel stated that Japan's domestic steel demand from the construction and civil engineering sectors remained stagnant but brisk demand from developing countries in Asia generated a sustaining high export volume for the country's steel industry. However, Nippon Steel also underlined higher competition in East Asia, due to new steelmaking plants. Furthermore, the company said that the brisk steel demand overseas is tightening the supply and demand balance for raw materials, which is leading to the development of supply-side monopolies for raw materials.
Regarding its expectations for FY 2011-2012, "It is still too early to anticipate the pace of the demand recovery or the scale of the reconstruction demand [after the earthquake]. For this reason, we do not at this time have a reliable base of assumptions upon which to prepare a steel demand outlook for fiscal 2011," Nippon Steel said.