The world's second biggest steelmaker Japan-based Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. (NSSMC) has announced its financial results for the financial year 2017-18, ended March 31, posting a net profit of JPY 195.06 billion ($1.78 billion), rising by 49 percent year on year. In the given period, the company's net sales amounted to JPY 5.66 trillion ($51.85 billion), compared to net sales of JPY 4.63 trillion in the previous financial year.
During the given year, NSSMC's steelmaking and steel fabrication segment recorded net sales of JPY 5.01 trillion ($45.86 billion), increasing by 23.8 percent year on year. NSSMC stated that in Japan it continued to implement policies to enhance its manufacturing capabilities in terms of both facilities and workforce. In markets outside Japan, the company took major strides toward enhancing its global supply network to capture demand in overseas growth markets and build an operating structure that better responds to customers’ global development requirements. In addition, in India, with the aim of steadily capturing significant demand growth in the medium to long term, NSSMC has decided to participate in the procedure for the joint acquisition of Indian steelmaker Essar Steel India Limited with the global steel giant ArcelorMittal.
Meanwhile, in the given financial year, NSSMC produced 46.82 million mt of crude steel, up 3.65 percent, while the company's steel product shipments amounted to 37.79 million mt, falling by five percent, both year on year.