Nippon Steel Corp (NSC) sees the need to reduce the company's crude steel production by an enhanced 2,000,000-2,200,000 tons in the latter half of fiscal 2008 (April 2008-March 2009), compared with what the company produced in fiscal 2007, to meet falling demand for steel products as the world financial crisis has begun to affect the real economies of various nations including Japan, NSC President Shoji Muneoka told the press Nov 25.
NSC first considered a total cutback of around 1,000,000 tons in its crude steel production for the latter half of fiscal 2008. With steel demand falling, though, NSC is poised to execute an additional production cutback of more than 1,000,000 tons to 2,000,000-2,200,000 tons then on the assumptions of how various users' operation levels and market conditions for steel exports go, mainly in East Asia, by the end of March 2009. Also, the company points out the possibility of a more production cutback if steel demand declines further.
As to the outlook for NSC's crude steel production in fiscal 2009, President Muneoka said that the production level could compare with what will turn out fiscal 2008, given that steel demand is unlikely to recover fast. |
