Japan’s Special Steel Demand Drops by 2.4% in April-June

Japanese demand of hot rolled special steel products in April-June 2006 will decrease by 1.8% from the previous quarter and 2.4% from the same period last year to averaged 1.6822 million tonnes per month, according to outlook by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The domestic demand would decrease from January-March when automobile and other manufacturers reduce the output after the demand season to year-end in March. The demand for export would decrease by 10% or more for high-tensile steel, which is major export products in special steel, due to lower building and other projects compared with January-March while the export demand increases for tool steel, structural steel and stainless flat steel with better inventory position of users in Southeast Asia and other offshore countries. The special steel demand would decrease in April-June from January-March for the first time in 3 quarters and do from the same period last year for 2 consecutive quarters. METI estimates the special steel output increased by 1.6% to 20.321 million tonnes in fiscal 2005, the year that ends in March 2006. The output would increase for 4 years in a row and exceed 20 million tonnes for the first time. The output for domestic shipment would increase 4.8% to 14.831 million tonnes, and that for export would decrease 6.1% to 5.49 million tonnes.