Kobe Steel admits falsifying data on 20,000 tonnes of metal

THE port city of Kobe, on the southern side of Japan's main island, is known for luxury beef from pampered cattle, fine sake and precision engineering. Its reputation for the last of those products took a blow on October 8th when one of its oldest industrial firms, Kobe Steel, admitted that that it had falsified data on many of its aluminium, copper and steel products. By October 11th, the company's shares had fallen by a third, reducing its market value by ¥180bn ($1.6bn). Kobe Steel has admit...