Japan Raw Steel Output Drops by 3.9% in F2011

Japanese raw steel output decreased by 3.9% to 106.46 million tonnes in fiscal 2011 ended March 2012 from fiscal 2010, which decreased for the first time in 2 years, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Friday. The output was impacted by the major earthquake, Thai flood and historical high yen rate.

The converter steel output decreased by 5.9% to 81.22 million tonnes in fiscal 2011 from fiscal 2010. The electric furnace steel output increased by 3.1% to 25.25 million tonnes due to higher special steel and construction steel demand. The carbon steel output decreased by 4.2% to 82 million tonnes. The special steel output decreased by 2.8% to 24.46 million tonnes.

The output of hot rolled steel products decreased by 3.9% to 94.29 million tonnes in fiscal 2011 from fiscal 2010. The output decreased by 4.1% to 74.02 million tonnes for carbon steel and by 3.2% to 20.26 million tonnes for special steel.

The carbon steel output decreased by 6.8% to 42.22 million tonnes for hot rolled wide strip in fiscal 2011 from fiscal 2010. The output decreased by 4.2% to 12.03 million tonnes for plate while the output increased by 4.7% to 8.89 million tonnes for small bar and by 2.9% to 3.38 million tonnes for H-beam.

The raw steel output increased by 2.3% to 9.32 million tonnes in March from a year earlier, which was first increase in 7 months. The daily output increased by 1.3% to 300,800 tonnes from February. The output decreased by 0.6% to 7.04 million tonnes for converter steel from a year earlier, which decreased for 7 months in a row. The electric furnace steel output increased by 12.4% to 2.29 million tonnes, which increased for 9 months in a row. The carbon steel output increased by 0.6% to 7.17 million tonnes, which increased for the first time in 8 months. The special steel output increased by 8.6% to 2.16 million tonnes, which increased for 2 months in a row.