Japan H-Beam Demand to Drops by Over 10% in April-June

Japanese H-beam apparent demand is likely to decrease by around 14% to 950,000 tonnes in April-June from same period of 2007 due to rebound of speculative purchase in previous quarter. An integrated steel maker source said the buyers of general contractors and steel structural fabricators ordered more than the actual consumption by March when domestic makers increased the price widely. The order is slower in April after the boom. The demand normally increases by around 10% in April-June from January-March and the makers expected around 1 million tonnes of quarterly demand. However, the demand is flat as January-March after the buyers secured the materials ahead. The dealers’ shipment decreases by 10-20% around Tokyo in April from March. Some dealers the slower order receipt could continue to summer. The major building demand is still firm. An integrated steel maker expects the demand will increase to 1.05 million tonnes both in July-September and October-December and the full year demand could reach 4-4.1 million tonnes for fiscal 2008 starting April compared with estimated 4 million tonnes in fiscal 2007.