Japan Raw Steel Output Hits First Half Year’s Record

Japanese raw steel output hit record 59.41 million tonnes as the first half of a year for January-June, which was 4.3% higher than a year earlier, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Tuesday. The output was second high as half year output after the last half of 1973. The demand was firm for domestic manufacturers and export.The converter steel output increased by 4.1% to 43.69 million tonnes in January-June from a year earlier. The electric furnace steel output increased by 4.7% to 15.71 million tonnes. The carbon steel output increased by 4.4% to 46.25 million tonnes. The special steel output record hit, which increased by 4.0% to 13.16 million tonnes.The output of hot rolled steel products including special steel increased by 6.2% to 54.02 million tonnes in January-June from a year earlier. The carbon steel products output increased by 6.3% to 43.04 million tonnes. The special steel products output increased by 5.9% to 10.98 million tonnes.Japanese raw steel output increased by 2.9% to 9.97 million tonnes in June, which increased for 13 months. The converter steel output increased by 2.8% to 7.27 million tonnes in June from a year earlier, which was increased for 13 months in a row. The electric furnace steel output increased by 3.3% to 2.7 million tonnes, which increased for 2 months. The carbon steel output increased by 2.9% to 7.8 million tonnes. The special steel output increased by 3.1% to 2.16 million tonnes. Japanese raw steel output increased by 3.2% to 29.88 million tonnes for April-June.Japanese 5 integrated steel increased the raw steel output by 4.3% to 43.48 million tonnes for January-June from last year. They are expanding their production capacity output by the expansion of their blast furnaces volume for the response for strong demand. The production share of integrated steels increased by 0.1 percentage points to 73.2% against all Japanese steel raw.