Japan steelmakers likely cut profit forecasts: Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nippon Steel Corp (5401.T) and JFE Holdings Inc (5411.T) will likely cut their operating profit forecasts for this business year as demand from automakers and other customers plunges, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.

Both companies now face a decline of about 12 percent in group operating profit in the year to March compared to a year earlier, according to the estimates in the Nikkei report.

Japanese steelmakers have been hit as key clients Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and other Japanese car makers curtail their own output while the global economic slump batters consumer spending.

Nippon Steel, the world's second-biggest steelmaker, will likely lower its estimate to about 480 billion yen ($5.3 billion), down from its previous forecast in October of 540 billion yen, the Nikkei said.

Meanwhile, JFE Holdings will likely cut its forecast to 450 billion yen from the previously estimated 490 billion yen, the paper said.

Just a few days ago, world number-three steelmaker JFE Steel Co, a core steel unit of JFE Holdings, stepped up planned output cuts in the face of plunging demand and became the first Japanese player to shut a blast furnace as the downturn bites.

($1=90.73 Yen)

(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Lincoln Feast)