Japan Major Trading Firms Post Favorable Profit for April-June

Japanese major 4 trading firms’ metal business units posted higher profit for April-June from same period of 2007 due to higher prices for coal, iron ore and copper while Mitsui & Co. posted lower profit due to one time gain in April-June 2007. Itochu Corporation posted 2.3 times of profit and Marubeni Corporation posted 1.5 times of profit. The major 5 trading firms’ metal units represented 31.6% of their corporations’ profit in April-June. Mitsubishi Corporation’s metal unit represented 39.7% of the total profit and profit of Mitsui & Co.’s metal unit was 40.9% of total profit. Mitsubishi Corp.’s metal unit increased the net profit by 23.4% to 54.459 billion yen for April-June from same period of 2007 when the higher profit from coking coal and ferrochrome. Mitsui & Co.’s metal unit posted 53.5% lower profit at 42.165 billion yen.Sumitomo Corporation’ metal unit posted 27.7% higher profit at 9.475 billion yen for April-June from same period of 2007 due to firm operation for the steel service centers. Marubeni Corp.’s metal unit gained from higher price from steel raw materials and Itochu Corp.’s metal unit gained from higher price and higher volume for iron ore and minerals.