Flat Japan Rolled Column Demand in July-September

Japanese roll formed column demand will increase slightly to around 140,000 tonnes in July-September from same period of 2005, according to a major maker. Construction steel products demand keeps increasing under aggressive capital expenditure by private sector. However, most of the higher demand is for major plant and high rise building. The demand for rolled column, which is used mainly for small and mid sized building with less than 2,000 square meters of floor space, is almost flat in July-September. The demand is expected to increase slightly to 540,000-550,000 tonnes in fiscal 2006 ending March 2007 from fiscal 2005. Domestic press formed column makers keep full capacity operations when the demand keeps firm since the beginning of the year. The major maker expects the demand will increase by 20% to 200,000 tonnes. However, the material of plate supply is expected to become tight when the plate demand keeps strong. With the tight supply, rolled column demand could increase mainly for products with less than 550 millimeters width as substitute for press column. The plate supply could impact on column demand after October.