Nippon Steel's Executive VP Katsuhiro Miyamoto recently stated that Section 232 has not had a major impact on Nippon Steel due to a solid global demand of its products. Nippon Steel, whose exports to the US account for 4 percent of its total exports, noted that 90 percent of its US customers continued with orders despite the additional 25 percent import tariff. This was attributed to their category as specialized products.
Miyamoto added that Nippon’s US subsidiaries with combined production capacity of 7.1 million mt are benefitting from the strong US domestic prices. Miyamoto expressed concern for the “products shut out from the US market” as they could flood the Asian market and depress prices on most of its exports. About 70 percent of Nippon’s total exports go to Asia.
Due to a strong demand outlook, Nippon Steel plans to increase its crude steel output from 40.67 million mt in 2017 to more than 42.6 million mt in 2018. The strong outlook is attributed to Japan’s strong demand in construction and automotive along with China’s strong consumer spending and continued investment in infrastructure and housing projects.
Per analysts, a profit of slightly above $3 billion is expected for 2018.