Japan: Nippon Steel reports marginal fall in crude steel production, steel shipments in Q1FY23

Japan's leading steel maker, Nippon Steel, has released its financial results for the quarter ending 30 June, 2022. The company has posted a marginal decline in crude steel output and steel shipments during the quarter.

Highlights:

• Non-consolidated crude steel production stood at 8.69 mnt in Q1FY23, down 1% marginally as compared with 8.81 mnt in the previous quarter. The same fell by 15% y-o-y against 10.18 mnt in Q1FY22.
  
  
• Non-consolidated steel shipments dropped marginally by 1% to 8.19 mnt in Q1FY23, against 8.31 mnt in Q4FY22. Similarly, steel shipments registered a fall of 11% on y-o-y basis compared to 9.2 mnt in Q1FY22.
  
  

The steel major's consolidated business profit jumped to JPY 338.8 billion in Q1 versus JPY 194.3 billion in the previous quarter despite disruptions in supply chain and depreciation of the Japanese currency. Also, the company aims to generate consolidated business profit of more than JPY 800 billion in the current fiscal.

Repair plans in FY23: Nippon Steel has plans to permanently shut down the pickling line in its east Nippon works, Kashima area and a galvanising and aluminising line in Setouchi works, Hanshin area (Sakai). In FY21, the steel major closed a steel plate mill in Nagoya works, the upstream facilities in the Kure area, a series of upstream facilities in Wakayama area and a titanium welded pipe production line in Kyushu works, Oita area.

The company has completed the re-lining of blast furnance B3 at Nagoya works in June, and has decided to postpone operations considering the low demand scenario.

Expanding global crude steel capacity to 100 mnt/year: In line with its plans of expanding its crude steel capacity to 100 mnt/year, the company accquired two integrated EAF steel mills in Thailand - G Steel and GJ Steel - last fiscal and started these in Q1FY22, aiming to capture growing demand in Thailand for hot rolled sheets.

AM/NS India downstream expansion: AM/NS India, the joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel India, has decided to set up state-of-the-art steel sheets manufacturing facilities (pickling, cold rolling, and galvanising) at its Hazira works. The production is expected to start by 2024.