JAPANESE steel producers, mired in one of their biggest postwar crises, are likely to reveal their troubles have crept into the new fiscal year when they start reporting earnings this week. Nippon Steel Corp., the country’s top producer and third biggest in the world, and JFE Holdings Inc. have been pummeled this year as the coronavirus pandemic hurts already weak Japanese demand and the domestic industry faces intensifying rivalry from other Asian steelmakers. Analysts expect the companies to report losses in the first quarter after both Nippon and JFE posted record annual losses in the year ended March 31. “There’s little good news,” said Takeshi Irisawa, an analyst at Tachibana Securities Co. in Tokyo. “The key focus at their quarterly earnings is whether there are any visible signs that demand will bottom out at some point and head for a recovery.” Japan’s steel output has slumped after operations were halted at one-third of the country’s 25 blast furnaces, and the crisis has even spurred talk of industry consolidation. Nippon Steel’s president and steel federation chief Eiji Hashimo has previously warned crude steel output could fall below 80 million tons this fiscal year.(SD-Agencies) |