Posted on 11 Apr 2019
Japan’s crude steel output for the April to June quarter is expected to stay flat from a year earlier despite solid local demand in the construction and manufacturing industries, the industry ministry said.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) estimated crude steel output to be 26.57 million tonnes in the April to June quarter this year compared with 26.56 million tonnes a year earlier. The small gain follows three consecutive quarterly year-on-year declines.
The forecast for the April to June is 7.1 percent higher than the previous quarter’s output when a series of glitches at some blast furnaces have reduced their productions.
The nation’s crude steel output for the January to March period is forecast to have fallen to 24.8 million tonnes, the lowest quarterly level since the July to September in 2009, according METI.
Demand for steel products, including those for exports, in the April to June period is forecast to rise 0.1 percent to 22.93 million tonnes compared with a year earlier, the ministry said, citing an industry survey.
Exports, which typically account for about 40 percent of Japanese steel production, during the period are predicted to fall 0.3 percent from a year earlier, but they are expected to surge 8.2 percent from the previous quarter.
Japanese steelmakers are enjoying healthy demand from the construction sector amid higher public spending to build stronger infrastructure to mitigate damage from disasters, but a series of technical troubles have prevented them from producing as much steel as they had planned.
