The world's second biggest steelmaker Japan-based Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. (NSSMC) has announced its financial results for the third quarter ended December 31 of the financial year 2016-17, posting a net profit of JPY 59.41 billion ($526.6 million), declining by 61 percent year on year. In the given quarter, the company's net sales amounted to JPY 3.33 trillion ($29.5 billion), compared to net sales of JPY 3.72 trillion in the same period of the previous financial year.
During the third quarter, NSSMC's steelmaking and steel fabrication segment recorded net sales of JPY 2.92 trillion ($25.9 billion), decreasing by 10 percent year on year. NSSMC stated that domestic steel demand bottomed out in the first quarter of the financial year 2016-17 and has been on a recovery trend since the second quarter. On a cumulative basis, demand through the third quarter was at a similar level as in the same period of the previous year.
Meanwhile, in the third quarter of the 2016-17 financial year, NSSMC produced 11.52 million mt of crude steel, up 3.4 percent, while the company's steel product shipments amounted to 10.29 million mt, increasing by three percent, both year on year.