Japan 5 Makers’ Crude Steel to Increase by 3.2% in F2007

Japanese 5 integrated steel makers expect to increase annual crude steel output to about 88.7 million tonnes on non-consolidated bases through fiscal 2007 ending March 2008, which would up by 3.2% over the previous year and continue increasing for 6 straight years since fiscal 2002. They anticipate the impact of new Japanese building standard law for the demand for building material, but they prospect total output and shipment keeps firm due to strong demand for automobile, shipbuilding or construction machinery which use steel sheet and steel plate of steel makers’ main products, and strong order from overseas Japanese manufactures and re-rollers. Steel makers’ strategy which increases high valued steel products is seemed to prove effective.New Japanese building standard law is expected to make impact to steel makers’ shipment for such as steel sheet or H-beam as building material in near future. They will increase the shipment to manufacturing industry which the makers can’t enough delivery if their shipment to building construction decreases by the impact of new law. Consequently, they prospect to keep crude steel.Nippon Steel increased crude steel to 16.21 million tonnes by 3.2% in April-September compared to the same period of last year. In the last half of fiscal 2007, the firm will increase crude steel by the expansion of blast furnace and the introduction of new converter in Nagoya iron works.JFE Steel increased crude steel to 15.04 million tonnes by 6.1%, which expects to keep crude steel at the same level in the last half of fiscal 2007 compared with the first half of fiscal 2007.Sumitomo Metal Industries decreased crude steel to 6.61 million tonnes by 0.9% due to the refinement of blast furnace in Kashima iron works, which expects the good influence by the expansion of the blast furnace in the last half of fiscal 2007.Kobe steel increased to 4.1 million tonnes by 7.9%, which expect to slightly decrease by the refinement of Kobe iron works.Nisshin Steel increased to 2.03 million tonnes by 2.5%, which will keep the same level in the last half of fiscal 2007.Steel makers are expanding the sales of high valued steel products for manufacturing industry or energy industry as their strategy for stabilization of their profit structure. 5 makers’ crude steel in fiscal 2007 would exceed by over 10 million tonnes in fiscal 1990 when was peak in babble boom.