Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. (NSSMC) has announced its financial results for the third quarter ended December 31 of the financial year 2018-19, posting a net profit of JPY 231.64 billion ($2.11 billion), increasing by 48.4 percent compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. In the given period, the company's net sales amounted to JPY 4.52 trillion ($41.25 billion), up 8.5 percent year on year.
During the October-December period, NSSMC's steelmaking and steel fabrication segment recorded net sales of JPY 3.99 trillion ($36.4 billion), rising by 7.8 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in the given period, NSSMC produced 12.13 million mt of crude steel, up 3.5 percent, while the company's steel product shipments amounted to 9.92 million mt, increasing by 5.6 percent, both year on year.
According to NSSMC’s statement, in the steelmaking and steel fabrication segment, domestic steel demand remained solid, especially for shipments to the automotive sector, and overseas steel demand as a whole was on a rising trend. In the domestic steel markets, prices were at a generally high level against a background of stable demand, while prices declined in the overseas markets in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2018-19 due to uncertainty over China’s economic outlook.