Japanese 5 integrated steel makers’ raw steel output increased by 0.3% to 7.069 million tonnes in August from a year earlier, which increased for the first time in 6 months due to higher production for automobile. The output showed year-on-year increase in August when the output was low at Kobe Steel’s Kakogawa works in August 2010 due to trouble at the blast furnace. The daily output decreased by 1.7% to 228,000 tonnes in August from July when the export decreased under higher yen exchange rate and weak market price in Asia.
Special steel making works including Nippon Steel’s Muroran works and Sumitomo Metals (Kokura) kept high output in August due to the demand recovery for automobile. However, some works reduced the output due to slow demand for domestic construction material and export. Japanese 5 integrated steels’ pig iron output increased by 1.7% to 6.959 million tonnes in August from a year earlier, which increased for the first time in 6 months. The daily output decreased by 1.5% to 224,484 tonnes in August from July.