Japan Major 5 Steels’ Raw Steel Output Rises by 21.7% in July

Japanese major 5 steel makers’ raw steel production increased by 21.7% to 7.308 million tonnes in July from a year earlier and by 1.3% from June. The production represented year-to-year plus for 9 consecutive months and exceeded 7 million tonnes for 3 straight months thanks to steady demand in domestic market despite of export market confusion caused by oversupply in China. The output per day decreased to 235,700 tonnes in July from 240,400 tonnes in June.

Nippon Steel’s output increased by 36.6% to 2.883 million tonnes in July from a year earlier and by 3.4% from the previous month. The firm has planned the production at 8.4 million tonnes for July-September. The actual output in July was higher than the planned volume. JFE Steel’s production increased by 6.9% to 2.394 million tonnes in July from a year earlier and by 2.7% from June. The output was below the 3-month plan of 7.54 million tonnes for July-September.

Sumitomo Metal Industries increased the output by 19.7% to 1.041 million tonnes in July from a year earlier while decreased by 5.9% from June. Kobe Steel’s production was 676,000 tonnes, 30.3% year-to-year plus and 1.7% month-to-month plus. Nisshin Steel’s production increased by 18.9% to 315,000 tonnes from a year earlier while decreased by 1.6% from a month ago.

The 5 makers’ pig iron production was 7.085 million tonnes in July, 24.6% year-to-year plus and 2.7% month-to-month plus. The output represented year-to-year plus for 9 consecutive months. The output per day decreased to 228,500 tonnes in July from 230,000 tonnes in June.