Japan's trading firms see metals prices cutting profits
Major Japanese trading houses are expecting lower profits from their metals businesses during the April 2024-March 2025 fiscal year, mostly because of lower prices of commodities such as iron ore and coking coal.
Japanese trading house Mitsui forecast profits for its metal and natural resource business falling by 14pc on the year to ¥290bn ($1.87bn) during 2024-25, primarily because of loweriron ore prices.
Mitsui plans to cut iron ore output by 0.3pc on the year to 60.9mn t at its mining projects where the company owns production rights or a production stake during 2024-25. This includes the joint venture project Robe River in Australia with Australian iron ore producer Rio Tinto.
Japanese trading house Sojitz also expects profits from its metal and natural resource business to decline to ¥35bn, down by 20pc on the year, mostly because of a bearish coking coal market.
The company said its overall coal business can cut production costs during 2024-25, partly because it plans larger-scale output at the Gregory Crinum coking coal mine in Australia, without disclosing further details. But Sojitz said it cannot generate higher profits because of lower coking coal prices. The trading house expects the average coking coal priceto fall to $230/t during 2024-25, according to the company's chief financial officer Makoto Shibuya, down by $57/t from a year earlier. The company reiterated that the price is not necessarily their selling price.
Sumitomo expects profits from its natural resource business would remain flat at ¥72bn on the year, mostly as its nickel production in Madagascar recovers from the output cuts in 2023, with an aim to produce 19,000t of nickel during 2024-25, up by 9.8pc on the year.
A rebound in nickel production could offset possible losses from coal and coking coal prices falling to $266/t and $133/t respectively in the ordinary market, down by $21 and $9, according to the trading house. Sumitomo plans to increase coking coal production by 9.1pc to 1.2mn t but reduce coal output by 4.8pc to 4mn t during 2024-25.
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