Nippon Steel Corp., one of the largest steel producers in the world, has announced that it could soon raise the price of steel, a move that can add to the inflationary pressure on the car industry.
There has been a sharp cost increase for input materials like coking coal and iron ore, Takahiro Mori, executive vice president of Japan’s biggest steelmaker, said in an interview with Bloomberg. The company will have to pass on the additional costs.
“Otherwise our profits will be squeezed,” Mori said. “The biggest concern is the domestic construction sector,” he said. As Nippon Steel cannot shoulder the entire cost, “all we need is to win understanding from those customers through discussions.”…