JFE Steel Keeps Top Plate Output Share in F2006

JFE Steel secured the top market share at 35.3% of 12.12 million tonnes of Japanese plate production in fiscal 2006 ended March 2007 while Nippon Steel stayed at the second position at 33.8% share. The national plate production increased by 0.5% from previous year under full capacity operation. The top 2 makers represented around 70% of the market. Nippon Steel reduced the plate output by 2.8% in fiscal 2006 from previous year. JFE Steel increased the share by 0.1 point while Nippon Steel decreased the share by 1.2 points. Nippon Steel’s share was 1.5 percentage points behind JFE Steel though the gap was only 0.2 points in fiscal 2005. The output increased by 1.0% to 4.28 million tonnes for JFE Steel in fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005. Nippon Steel reduced the output by 2.8% while the output increased by 2.9% for Kobe Steel and by 1.6% for Sumitomo Metal Industries.