Japan Raw Steel Output Decreases by 10.6% in January

Japanese raw steel output decreased by 10.6% to 8.631 million tonnes in January from a year earlier, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Monday. The output decreased for 5 months in a row. The converter steel output decreased by 13.6% to 6.636 million tonnes, which decreased for 5 months in a row, due to slow export. With firm domestic demand, the electric furnace steel output increased by 0.8%v to 1.995 million tonnes, which increased for 7 months in a row.

The carbon steel output decreased by 11.9% to 6.577 million tonnes in January from a year earlier, which decreased for 6 months in a row. The special steel output decreased by 6.1% to 2.053 million tonnes, which decreased for 3 months in a row. The output of hot rolled steel products decreased by 8.2% to 7.778 million tonnes. The output decreased by 8.1% to 6.107 million tonnes for the carbon steel products, which decreased for 11 months in a row, and by 8.8% to 1.671 million tonnes for the special steel products, which decreased for 2 months in a row.

The output of carbon steel long products increased by 0.5% to 1.481 million tonnes in January from a year earlier, which increased for 4 months in a row. The output of flat products decreased by 11.1% to 4.542 million tonnes, which decreased for 12 months in a row. The output decreased by 10.3% to 3.54 million tonnes for hot rolled wide strip and by 13.2% to 942,000 tonnes for plate while the output increased by 4.0% to 707,000 tonnes for small bar and by 1.3% to 284,000 tonnes for H-beam.