China tightens checks on aluminium and other metal products manufactured and supplied by Kobe Steel

According to a Xinhua News Agency report, Shanghai has issued strict safety check against copper, aluminium and steel products manufactured by scandal-hit Japanese firm Kobe Steel Ltd and imported by China.

After Kobe Steel’s revelation in October that about 500 of its customers had received products with falsified specifications, it lost quality certifications for its products at a number of domestic plants.  

According to the News Agency, Kobe shipped in 451,000 tonnes of metal products to China through its Shanghai units over September 2016 to August 2017. Of that, data on 1,420 tonnes of aluminium sheet and 116 tonnes of copper sheet had been tampered, as shown by data from Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.

While Kobe’s Shanghai units have been in touch with their customers to check on safety of the products, the inspection bureau has said it will continue supervising the units to protect interests of Chinese consumers, Xinhua reported.

The bureau is said to be setting up a special technical investigation team to check its products manufactured by Kobe Steel that come with falsified data and release results on a routine basis, the report added. The bureau will also regularly check Japan-made metal products imported through the Shanghai port. The bureau has already made a full retrospective investigation on Kobe Steel’s operations in the city.