Japan's Nippon Steel Corporation has announced its financial and operating results for the first quarter ended June 30 of the current fiscal year 2026-27.
In the quarter, the company recorded a net profit of 84.29 billion yen ($0.53 billion), compared with a net loss of 190.72 billion yen in the same period last year, while net sales totaled 2.82 trillion yen ($17.87 billion), an increase of 40.4% compared to the same period. last year. Net sales totaled 2.01 trillion yen in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year. In addition, Nippon Steel reported an operating profit of 145.51 billion yen ($922.30 million) for the first quarter, compared with an operating loss of 139.56 billion yen recorded in the same quarter of the fiscal year. 2025-26.
Meanwhile, during the first three months of the fiscal year under review, the company produced 14.26 million tons of crude steel, up 50.7%, while shipments of steel products totaled 7.53 million tons, down 1.4% year-on-year. It expects its steel production to be approximately 28.50 million tons and 29.50 million tons, respectively, in the first half and second half of the current fiscal year.
Nippon Steel expects revenue of 5.6 trillion Japanese yen for the first half of the year and 11.2 trillion JPY for the full fiscal year. In addition, the company forecasts business profits of 260 billion yen for the first half of the year and 630 billion yen for the full fiscal year, while profits attributable to the owners of the parent company are expected to reach 120 billion and 290 billion yen, respectively.
The company said that although demand from the artificial intelligence and energy sectors remains high, the main demand is in Japan's manufacturing and construction industries and the situation overseas continues to be weak. Political and economic uncertainty remains high, due to concerns that the situation in the Middle East could further slow global economic activity.
According to Nippon Steel, the global steel market is expected to remain under pressure due to the continued oversupply of cheap steel products as a result of China's excess production capacity, as well as the expansion of steelmaking capacity in developing economies. These factors are expected to maintain an imbalance between supply and demand, while trade measures and the formation of economic blocs are likely to accelerate. Depending on their impact, market differences between regions are expected to widen further, with market conditions in regions including North America and Europe improving moderately, while recovery in other markets remains limited. Against this background, the company said that the company has focused investments in regions such as North America and Europe, which are considered to be less affected by events in China and are expected to have higher growth prospects.
In fiscal year 2026, Nippon Steel stated that changes in the external environment, including the impact of the situation in the Middle East, began to affect its business, especially in Japan, due to higher raw materials and fuel costs and reducing the cost of steel exports to the Middle East. Nevertheless, with the support mainly of US Steel, which is the main source of the group's profits, the company aims to achieve an underlying profit of at least 700 billion yen, including 250 billion yen in the first half of the year and 450 billion yen in the second half of the fiscal year. years.
Looking to the future, Nippon Steel stated that it will continue to strengthen its domestic operations while expanding its overseas business by improving its local manufacturing model for local consumption in the United States, Europe, India and ASEAN countries, especially in Thailand. The company said it also intends to increase the profitability of its existing industries, including US Steel, which will allow it to better respond to trade measures and the formation of regional economic blocs, while increasing its competitiveness and profitability in the global steel market.
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