Japan Raw Steel Output to Decrease by 1.1% in 2011

Japanese raw steel output for 2011 would be in line with 2010 level. The output would decrease by 1.1% to 108.36 million tonnes for 2011 from 2010, according to Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The output decreased to 26.37 million tonnes in April-June, which represented quarter-to-quarter decrease for the first time since July-September 2010 due to the major earthquake damage. However, the output would be 27-28 million tonnes for July-September and October December 2011 when the demand is increasing for automobile.

Japanese demand of hot rolled special steel products will increase by 6.4% to 5.33 million tonnes for October-December from July-September, which increases for 2 quarters in a row, according to METI. The demand would increase by 7.0% to 3.6 million tonnes for domestic market when the output of automobile and construction machinery is increasing. The demand would increase by 5.0% to 1.73 million tonnes for export due to strong demand for Japanese automobile and energy industry in offshore market.

The domestic special steel demand will increase by 11.9% for carbon steel for machine structural use, which represents around 30% of total demand, for October-December from July-September. The demand would increase by 7.6% for structural alloy steel, by 2.7% for bearing steel and by 4.6% for high tensile strength steel. The stainless steel demand would increase by 1.3% for long products and by 3.5% for flat rolled.

The export would increase by 9.6% for high tensile strength steel, which represents around 40% of total special steel export, for October-December from July-September. The export of structural alloy steel, which accounts around 20% of total, would increase by 3.2%. The flat rolled stainless steel export would increase by only 0.8% due to higher yen exchange rate.