Japanese raw steel output decreases by 1.9% to 26.1 million tonnes in April-June from January-March, announced by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Friday. The demand of steel products decreases by 2.8% to 23.81 million tonnes including export, which decreases for 2 quarters in a row. The export increases by 2.9% due to recovering demand in Southeast Asia from Thai flood while the domestic demand decreases by 5.7% due to lower automobile output and civil works.
METI expects the domestic demand is positive except for shipbuilding. METI warns the steel makers should adjust the production depending on demand and the inventory when the inventory is still high. The domestic demand of carbon steel products decreases by 5.5% to 12.01 million tonnes in April-June from January-March. The construction demand decreases by 2.1% to 4.68 million tonnes. The building demand increases by 6.5% to 3.48 million tonnes while the civil work demand decreases by 20.8% to 1.2 million tonnes. The domestic demand of carbon steel products decreases by 7.6% to 7.33 million tonnes for manufacturers in April-June from January-March. The demand decreases by 11.4% to 2.87 million tonnes for automobile and by 1.3% to 1.25 million tonnes for industrial machinery seasonally. The shipbuilding demand decreases by 7.8% to 1.19 million tonnes due to slower building pace. The carbon steel export increases by 3.1% to 6.6 million tonnes in April-June from January-March. Japanese demand of special steel products decreases by 3.3% to 5.2 million tonnes in April-June from January-March. The demand decreases by 6.2% for domestic market due to lower automobile demand while the export increases by 2.3%.