Kobe Steel loses last quality seal

The Kobe Steel plant at the centre of a data-falsification scandal that has shaken supply chains around the world has been stripped of all its industrial quality certifications, the Japanese government says.

In another blow to the embattled steel maker, the statesanctioned seal on insulated copper tubing from Kobe’s Hatano plant was revoked after an investigation by a certification firm into its quality controls, the ministry of economy, trade and industry said.

The plant southwest of Tokyo has also lost its ISO 9001 quality certification from the International Standards Organisation, the Japan Quality Assurance Organisation said. Earlier, the plant was stripped of its Japan Industrial Standards seal for seamless copper pipe products used for air-conditioning and refrigerators, as part of the fallout of Japan’s industrial scandal.

Having the quality seals revoked means the company can no longer sell the products with the Japan Industrial Standards label, potentially restricting the number of customers that want to buy them and reducing its sales.

“We aim to regain the certification and recover trust from our customers as soon as possible by implementing measures to prevent future misconduct,” Kobe Steel said.

Certified products accounted for about 40% of Hatano’s sales by weight, Kobe Steel said. Copper products made up about 7% of the company’s total sales in the year to March 2017.

Some customers had agreed to keep buying products made at the Hatano plant without the Japan Industrial Standards label after it was first stripped of its Japan Industrial Standards certification, a Kobe Steel spokesman said.

But the plant might be forced to stop shipping some products if the ISO 9001 certification was among the conditions set out in contracts with customers, the spokesman said. “There will be some impact on our business as we have lost credibility in our quality assurance system, but it is not clear how much impact we will face.”