Japan Electrode Shipment Increases for Electric Furnaces in 2005

Japanese shipment of round electrode, which is used for electric furnaces, increased by 2% to 63,920 tonnes for domestic users in 2005 from 2004. The electrode shipment increased firmly when Japanese electric furnace special steel makers increased output in 2005 for 4 years in a row though Japanese total electric steel production decreased by 0.3% to 28.8 million tonnes in 2005 from 2004, according to Japan Carbon Association. Japanese electrode export increased by 4% to 109,355 tonnes in 2005 from 2004 with higher export for Europe, South Korea and Taiwan.

Japanese around electrode production increased by 4% to 175,606 tonnes in 2005 from 2004, which increased for the first time in 2 years. Japanese import of electrode increased by 6.7% to 12,354 tonnes. The import from China was 8,200 tonnes as much as 2004 and that from France was about 1,000 tonnes increasing from 2004.

Japanese electrode demand in 2006 is expected to be in line with 2005 under the firm demand for special steel production. Japanese makers are getting order from new electric furnaces in Asia. The worldwide supply of electrode is likely to get tighter.