Japan Steel Works

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan last month said he will reconsider a plan to increase the country’s dependence on nuclear energy. He pledged to generate 20 percent of the nation’s electricity through renewable forms of energy by 2020.

Japan Steel Works shares fell 2.1 percent to 581 yen at 11 a.m. trading break on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The stock has dipped 28 percent since March 11.

Falling Orders

Japan Steel Works expects orders for parts used in nuclear stations and power plants to reach 41.1 billion yen for the financial year through March, 2012, or 40 percent less than the previous forecast, the company said May 20.

Sales of power plant components accounted for 20 percent of annual revenue in the last financial year, with more than half nuclear-related sales, according to a May 20 presentation by the company.

The Muroran plant is the world’s only factory capable of producing a nuclear reactor’s pressure vessel from a single block of steel, which results in a stronger vessel and reduces the risk of radiation leaks. The company has almost completed an expansion that will increase capacity to produce steel parts for 12 nuclear reactors a year, up from 5.5 a year earlier, Sato said.

The factory’s steel ingot and forging is running at 60 to 70 percent of capacity, the president said. The company may look into reducing capacity by removing old facilities if the gap between supply and demand widens, he said.