Japan Building Structure Steel Demand Rises by 12% in 2006

Japanese steel demand for building steel structure increased by 12% to 7.367 million tonnes in 2006 from 2005, according to estimate by Japan Metal Bulletin based on the building start data from Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The demand increased by 17.2% to 318,650 tonnes for steel framed reinforced concrete and by 0.4% to 7.048 million tonnes for steel structure building. The demand expanded when major building projects started including redevelopment around Tokyo and private building under growing economy.The builders purchase steel materials 2 months after the building start generally. Approval procedure of building start was delayed due to structural calculation sheet fabrication from late 2005 to spring of 2006. The estimated structural steel demand decreased by 4.3% to 1.61 million tonnes in January-March 2006 and by 2.7% to 1.914 million tonnes in April-June from same period of previous year. However, the demand recovered in second half of 2006. The estimated demand increased by 9.6% to 1.976 million tonnes in July-September and by 19.1% to 1.866 million tonnes in October-December. With the higher demand, H-beam output increased in the period reaching more than 400,000 tonnes per month since October. The structural steel demand is estimated to be 100 kilogram per square meter for steel structural building and 50 kg for steel framed reinforced concrete building. er sales at 351 billion yen for April-December from same period of 2005.