Japanese Steel Plate Demand for Steel Frame Increases in Fiscal 2006

Japanese steel plate demand for steel frame is expected to increase to about 1.2 million tonnes in fiscal 2006 at the starting from April 2006 from the last year of 1.1 million tonnes, according to Japanese integrated steel maker source. Because many large building projects are on the menu, the demand is expected to above 1.2 million tonnes in fiscal 2007.The order for private sectors’ investment and redevelopment projects is increasing in fiscal 2006. The demand was about 270,000 tonnes for April-June 2006, about 310,000 tonnes for July-September, about 290000 tonnes for October-December. The demand for January-March 2007 is expected to be about 330,000 tonnes.The steel plate for steel frame is used to tetrahedral box, built H-beam and press column which are shell for large buildings. Especially, the demand for press column is strong in fiscal 2006, which is expected to increase to 220,000 tonnes by 30% in fiscal 2006 from a year ago. The demand for press column was record at 186,000 tonnes in fiscal 2000 when was active for IT concerned investment, which is expected to be highest in fiscal 2006.