Five major special steel manufacturers in Japan recently announced their comprehensive financial performance for the period from April to June 2019. Sales of Aichi Steel and Shanyang Special Steel decreased, net profits of Aichi Steel and Datong Special Steel increased, profits of Shanyang Special Steel decreased, and losses occurred in Mitsubishi Steel and Japan Gaozhou Steel. Sales of automobiles, construction machinery and industrial machinery declined, prices of raw materials and fuel rose, and prices of auxiliary materials such as graphite electrodes used in steelmaking projects rose, which also affected profits.

At the same time, as demand at home and abroad in Japan slows down, sales also decrease. Sales of automobile steels, construction machinery steels and tool steels of Datong Special Steel Co. decreased compared with the same period last year. Aichi Steel's sales of special steel increased by 3.3% and 225,000 tons, while forging products decreased by 9.1% to 67,000 tons. Since Shanyang Special Steel was incorporated into Ovako sales of Swedish subsidiary from April to June, the sales revenue of the iron and steel business department increased by about 33.3 billion yen compared with the same period last year, with a total output of 479,000 tons. Mitsubishi's steel production performance is affected by the reduction in the number of special steels used in construction machinery, while sales of spring steels by its subsidiary in the United States have declined.

On the other hand, because of the rising prices of scrap, auxiliary materials and energy, the profits are declining. The ROS of Shanyang Tegang fell to 3.2% due to the difference between Swedish subsidiary fees and Indian joint venture earnings (8.4% in the same period last year). Due to the decrease in the quantity of special steel such as tool steel and bearing steel, and the increase in the price of raw materials and fuels, the high cycle steel industry has suffered losses.

Datong Special Steel, Mitsubishi Steel and Aichi Steel cut their sales expectations in view of uncertain performance prospects in April-September and the whole financial year. Shanyang Special Steel not only lowered its sales and profits from April to September, but also lowered its annual sales. Gaozhou Steel Co. Ltd. has cut its sales from April to September, while its recurrent profits and losses are in the red.