Japan Major 5 Steel Wire, Rope Makers to Post Low Profit for F2008

Japanese major 5 steel wire and rope makers revised the outlook for fiscal 2008 ending March 2009. Four makers expect lower consolidated recurring profit. The 5 makers expect 40-90% lower net profit. The makers’ profitability gets worsened especially for automobile industry and special steel wire when domestic automakers expand the production cut since October.

Three makers posted lower recurring profit for April-December from same period of 2007 while 2 makers posted higher profit. The all 5 makers posted major drop for net profit due to onetime loss including securities valuation loss.

Tokyo Rope Mfg. posted higher sales for the 9 months from same period of 2007 thanks to higher selling price despite of the lower shipment. Nichia Steel posted higher recurring profit due to cost cutting effort. Suncall posted lower sales and profit while Suzuki Metal Industry and Shinko Wire posted higher sales and lower profit.