Sanyo Special Steel Expands Bearing Steel Output Share in F2007

Production share of Sanyo Special Steel and Daido Steel represented 50.9% for hot rolled special bearing steel in fiscal 2007, which increased by 0.2 percentage points from fiscal 2006. The output in Japan increased by 8.9% to 970,000 tonnes under strong demand for automobile. The largest maker of Sanyo Special Steel’s share increased by 0.6 points in fiscal 2007 from fiscal 2006 while Daido Steel reduced the share by 0.4 points. The share increased by 0.6 points for Kobe Steel, by 0.5 points for Nippon Steel and by 0.4 points for Aichi Steel while the share deceased by 1.5 points for Sumitomo Metal Industries and by 0.4 points for JFE Steel. The output of Sanyo Special Steel increased by 11.2% to 319,000 tonnes in fiscal 2007 from fiscal 2006. The output increased by 6.5% to 174,000 tonnes for Daido Steel and by 13.7% to 139,000 tonnes for Kobe Steel.