Kobe Steel copper product plant loses remaining industrial quality badge

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 said on Wednesday.

In another blow to the embattled steelmaker, the government-sanctioned seal on insulated copper tubing from Kobe's Hatano plant, one of its main copper product plants, was revoked after an investigation by a certification firm into its quality controls, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a statement.

The plant southwest of Tokyo has also lost its ISO 9001 quality certification from the International Standards Organization (ISO), Japan Quality Assurance Organization said.

Earlier, the plant was stripped of its Japan Industrial Standards (JIS) seal for seamless copper pipe products used for air conditioning and refrigerators, as part of the fallout of one of Japan's biggest industrial scandals.

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

"We aim to regain the JIS certification and recover trust from our customers as soon as possible by implementing measures to prevent future misconduct," Kobe Steel said in a statement.
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