Japanese company Kobe Steel this week said it had received a request from US judicial administrative authorities for documents following its admission earlier this month that the company had been falsifying data about its metal products for several years and in some cases for a decade.  The company said it would be co-operating with the US investigation.

Kobe Steel's share price dived after the company disclosed earlier this month that data falsification had been found in its aluminium and copper business and it was soon found that the bad practice had occurred right across its business. The company has revealed a series of products that were being supplied to customers globally that did not meet their product specifications. This was being covered up by inaccurate data being rewritten into inspection certificates.

Following the disclosures, the company set up an investigation committee led by its chairman, president and chief executive, Hiroya Kawasaki, and hired a law firm to conduct an external inquiry. Kobe Steel stated: "We sincerely and deeply apologise for the enormous amount of worry and trouble we have caused many of you in respect to the improper conduct concerning a portion of our products made by our company and group companies."

The falsification of date was first discovered following self-inspections and emergency quality audits of the compliance status of contracts executed as to products shipped over the past year. The company said last November it had sought to strengthen its quality control system through the group and established a quality management section in its head office. The department had begun its inspection audits in April this year. Once the product falsification was found Kobe Steel contacted customers and made technical checks of products to ensure their quality. The company said the early inspections had not found problems which impacted on the safety of products but promised to take action if problems were found.