Tokyo — Kobe Steel has received a request from the US Department of Justice for documents related to falsified product data. The company said on Tuesday that it would co-operate with the US investigation and it could not yet quantify the impact of the scandal on its earnings. The US request marks an escalation in a crisis that risks engulfing Japan’s third-biggest steel maker, whose products are used by US automotive giants such as Ford and General Motors, and by the nation’s biggest plane maker, Boeing. Kobe has said about 500 companies worldwide are in a supply chain tainted by its admissions that it faked certifications on the strength and durability of metals gong back at least to 2007. Kobe’s investigation into falsified data will probably reveal the practice began before then, according to a company executive. As the steel maker works to contain the fallout from the crisis, it has briefed analysts that short-term liquidity is not an issue as it seeks to generate cash including...
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