TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japan's largest steelmaker Nippon Steel Corp has posted an 8 percent increase in first half pretax profit to 290 billion yen, thanks to strong demand from automakers and shipbuilders for high-grade steel products, the Nikkei reported on Sunday without citing sources.
The figure is 10 billion yen above the company's official forecast, the business daily said.
The tighter steel supply around the globe has made it easier for the company to pass an increase in steel materials costs onto its prices, the newspaper said.
Revenue in the first half to September rose 19 percent to 2.37 trillion yen, it said.
Pretax profit is forecast to reach 600 billion yen in the full year to March 2008 for the fourth straight year of record profit, on sales of 4.8 trillion yen, the Nikkei said.
(1 US dollar=114.21 yen)
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