Japan Steel Demand Keeps Firm for Manufacturers, METI

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said the domestic steel demand will keep high for manufactures including automobile and shipbuilding. METI said the plate steel supply gets tighter for shipbuilding and steel structure applications. METI reported Japanese car output keeps high level though it decreased by 3.8% in April from a year earlier due to slower domestic sales. The export increased by 2.3% in the month. METI said the shipbuilders’ order receipt increased by 6.3% in May from a year earlier. Their order backlog increased to 55.359 million tonnes, which was 2% hither than the end of March. METI said order receipt increased by 22.4% for industrial machinery and by 53.5% for construction machinery in April from a year earlier. The report said the other manufactures also keep high level output for heavy electrical machinery and appliances.