Japan's steel giants post full-year losses, plan more capacity closures

Japanese steelmaking behemoths JFE and Nippon Steel have both announced losses for the previous financial year in recent days, with the two firms citing a highly challenging operating environment.

Both companies will enact further reductions to their steel output in the coming months after a bruising first five months of the year where the effects of Covid-19 have ravaged Japanese steel demand and prices.
Nippon Steel is Japan's largest steel producer, while JFE is the country's second largest steelmaker.
Nippon's latest measure to restrict steel output is to bank the No2 blast furnace (BF) at its Kyushu Works' in Yawata from the beginning of July 2020, the firm said on Friday May 8. The furnace will be permanently closed by the end of the year.
Nippon had already announced stoppages at four other BFs.

In February, Nippon banked its Setouchi Works in Kure, in April it banked BFs at...

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