Japan Raw Steel Output Drops by 0.2% in F2005

Japanese raw steel output decreased by 0.2% to 112.71 million tonnes in fiscal 2005 ended March 2006 from fiscal 2004, which kept more than 100 million tonnes for 6 years in a row, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Monday. The output was 5th high after 120.02 million tonnes in fiscal 1973, 114.03 million tonnes in fiscal 1974, 113.01 million tonnes in fiscal 1979 and 112.89 million tonnes in fiscal 2004. The output by converter steel increased and the total output kept the high-level under strong demand from manufacturers including automobile and shipbuilding. The converter steel output increased by 0.4% to 83.64 million tonnes in fiscal 2005 from fiscal 2004 while the electric furnace steel output decreased by 1.7% to 29.06 million tonnes. The electric furnace output for total output decreased by 0.4 percentage points to 25.8%. The carbon steel output decreased by 1.3% to 87.94 million tonnes while the special steel output increased by 3.9% to 24.76 million tonnes, which renewed the record for 4 years in a row. The hot rolled steel products output including special steel decreased by 2.8% to 100.49 million tonnes in fiscal 2005 from fiscal 2004, which kept more than 100 million tonnes for 3 years in a row. The carbon steel products output decreased by 3.9% to 80.13 million tonnes while the special steel products output increased by 1.8% to 20.35 million tonnes, which exceeded former record of 20 million tonnes in fiscal 2004. The hot rolled wide strip output was 5th high at 42.89 million tonnes and galvanizing steel output was 3 high at 13.83 million tonnes.