On April 28, Japanese steel producer Sumitomo Metals said that in the fiscal year 2010-2011 that ended on March 31 it achieved sales of JPY 1.4 trillion ($17.22 billion), up by 9.1 percent year on year. During the given period, Sumitomo Metals improved its profitability thanks to its increased sales volume, as well as its efforts to reduce costs and to reflect the steep rises in the cost of raw materials in the prices of its steel products.
According to Sumitomo Metals, there was a temporary production instability at the Kashima Steel Works' blast furnace, as well as accounting gains from the revaluation of inventory assets accompanying the steep rises in raw material prices.
For FY 2010-2011, Sumitomo Metals posted an extraordinary loss of JPY 62 billion ($761 million) due to damage to Kashima Steel Works caused by the March 11 earthquake, which resulted in a net loss of JPY 7.1 billion ($87.16 million).
In the fiscal year 2010-2011, Sumitomo Metals' crude steel ouput came to 12.9 million mt.
Sumitomo Metals said that, given the uncertainty in the Japanese domestic economy, it will not make any forecast for the time being.