Nikkei reported that Nippon Steel plans a 10% cut in its planned capital spending of JPY 1.7 trillion (USD 16 billion) for three years through fiscal 2020, as the global steel market slumps due to increased Chinese production and the global economic downturn induced by the US China trade war. The current 3 year capital spending target through fiscal 2020 will be reduced about JPY 170 billion The manufacturer spent about JPY 440 billion in fiscal 2018. One of the major items hit by the spending cut will be the postponement of a planned upgrade to a blast furnace at the Kure plant of its subsidiary Nippon Steel Nisshin in Hiroshima Prefecture, with the upgrade being pushed back two years. The subsidiary had planned to spend about JPY 40 billion to upgrade one of its two blast furnaces and suspend operations at the second one.
The cut by the Japanese steelmaker may see more businesses in a wide range of industries follow suit amid an increasingly uncertain business environment.
Source of information