Iron powder parameters also falsified to sell real estate "Kobelco" or Seodai second

Following the exposure of the performance data of copper and aluminum products was exposed, Kobel Steel (KOBELCO) in Japan was again exposed to the falsification of iron powder product parameters and caused the entire line of products to be questioned, and the Japanese government has stepped in.

Toyota and Nissan said that there are safety hazards in their products and recalls are almost inevitable. Mazda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Subaru are inspecting vehicles using Kobe Steel products to confirm whether they have potential safety hazards. The United States General Motors and Ford Motor Co., Ltd. are also customers of Kobe Steel.

According to the Japan Sankei Shimbun yesterday, after the falsification of the performance data of copper and aluminum products was exposed, Japan's Kobe Steel (KOBELCO) was again exposed to the falsification of iron powder product parameters. At the same time, in the inspections of relevant companies, new problems have surfaced one after another. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan is seeking relevant reports.

With the further expansion of the influence of cheating, Kobe Steel’s credit decline is inevitable. And, taking into account the additional compensation costs that may arise, the company sold all of its subsidiary, Kobelco Real Estate (Kobe City), to strengthen its financial structure.

According to relevant sources, when investigating Kobe Steel, it was found that iron powder products also had falsified issues. Different from aluminum and copper, the actual product-density related parameters of iron powder are higher than the agreed-upon level with the customer, which means that there may be post-remediation.

Iron powder is generally used for burning and producing parts, and is widely used in the fields of automobiles and machinery. As for the product use of Kobe’s changed data, it is still not clear. According to another Japanese manufacturer, JFE Steel Corp., iron powder can be hardened to produce sintered parts that can be used from the engine to the steering and brakes and gearboxes.

In addition, it is the inspection work that the relevant company provides to the company that has surfaced the problem. As a result, the industry has also been clamoring for the expansion of the product range of concern, and Kobe Steel is also investigating the quality inspection system of other products of the company.

"It has long been clear that the general companies involved will initially say that this is a single, one-off event, but the incident will often spread to more and more businesses," said Alexander Robert Medd, general manager of Bucephalus Research. People tend to find out that the outbreak is quite systematic."

With the outbreak of scandals, the Japanese government has stepped in. Nataro, the deputy head of Japan's cabinet office, said that the fake data damaged the foundation of fair trade and called it "improper." Kasaki Kawasaki, CEO of Kobe Steel, did not respond to requests for comment.

Share price plummeted by 20%. The problem covers all Japanese car companies.

In the past two days, the stock price of Kobe Steel fell steadily and fell to the bottom of the day at 13:05 on October 11th, which was a drop of 20.4% from the previous quarter. It was the highest decline in the 1st day of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and it was the lowest since the beginning of the year. . Since the outbreak of the incident, Kobe Steel's stock price has dropped by 1.6 billion U.S. dollars. By March 2017, Kobe Steel had suffered a two-year fiscal deficit due to rising raw material prices and setbacks in the Chinese market, and the current deficit had reached 23 billion yen. Currently, the sale of shares of Kobelco Real Estate is used as a measure to ensure profitability. One of the programs.

Japan’s metal and alloy manufacturers said that products that have been identified as problematic have been delivered to some 200 automakers, including Toyota’s large automakers and railways, aerospace, and defense industries. It is not yet clear whether all companies receive data related to forged data. According to Bloomberg statistics, General Motors and Ford Motors are also customers of Kobe Steel. Moreover, Kobe Steel will likely be required to bear the cost of measures such as car recalls, which may cause the other assets of the company to be sold.

As of October 10th, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Mazda, Suzuki and other companies have confirmed the use of the problem components, the affected parts are mainly engine parts and doors and other parts. In addition, Toyota and Nissan said that there are safety hazards in their products and recalls are almost inevitable. Mazda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Subaru are inspecting vehicles that use Kobe Steel products to confirm whether they have potential safety hazards.

JP Morgan Securities Co., Ltd. speculated that the potential cost of replacing a defective part is about 15 billion yen, but it has caused more than a century or more damage to the company, both in terms of reputation and legality.