Japan H-Beam Demand to Drop by around 6% in F2008

Japanese H-beam demand will decrease in fiscal 2008 ending March 2009 from fiscal 2007, according to outlook by Nippon Steel and other makers. The makers revised the outlook downward to 3.7-3.8 million tonnes, which is around 6% lower than fiscal 2007, while they expected higher demand earlier. The makers concern the demand could decrease more depending on the market when many building project is postponed or canceled. The demand could decrease to the level of recent bottom of fiscal 2005.

An integrated steel maker source said around 15% of major building plans is in revision process. Japanese major manufacturers canceled major new plant products when domestic economy slowed down.

Japanese H-beam makers expects H-beam demand is around 1.7 million tonnes in second half of fiscal 2008 when the demand is around 900,000 tonnes in October-December and around 800,000 tonnes in January-March 2009. The demand in second half is around 15% lower than original outlook and 17% lower than 2.05 million tonnes of the first half.

Japanese H-beam demand dropped to 3.3 million tonnes in fiscal 2002 compared with the peak of 6.9 million tonnes in fiscal 1990. The demand recovered 4 million tonnes level in fiscal 2006 and 2007 but the demand should decrease in fiscal 2008.