Nippon Steel Forecasts 43 Pct Profit Drop for FY 2025

Tokyo, May 9 (Jiji Press)--Nippon Steel Corp. said Friday that its consolidated net profit for fiscal 2025 is projected to plunge 42.9 pct from the previous year to 200 billion yen, amid U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Trump's tariffs are "expected to have a tremendous impact on the domestic and overseas steel industries, including indirect effects," Nippon Steel President Tadashi Imai said at a press conference.

Imai expressed concern, in particular, about a decline in steel demand as a result of a fall in auto shipments, saying that the U.S. tariffs' indirect impact through a fall in auto exports could be greater than the direct impact on steel exports.

For the year to March 2026, Nippon Steel did not release a sale estimate, citing the difficulty of calculating the tariffs' impact.

Meanwhile, the company forecast its annual operating profit to slump 41.5 pct to 400 billion yen, with the tariffs seen pushing down its operating profit by tens of billions of yen.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]