Crude Steel Production Forecast for FY2023 by 3 Blast Furnaces Revised Downward to 65.7 Million Tons due to Sluggish Construction Demand

　The combined non-consolidated crude steel production forecast for FY2023 by the three blast furnace steelmakers was revised downward by 500,000 tons from the previous May forecast to 65.7 million tons, and is expected to remain at a low level following the previous year. Although the forecast is for a 1.8% year-on-year increase, the first increase in two years, it is slightly more than 5 million tons less than in FY 2021 and nearly 10 million tons less than in FY 2019, the year before the new Corona disaster. In Japan, automobile production is recovering as parts supply constraints are gradually being resolved, but construction demand is sluggish due to high materials prices and labor shortages. The export environment is not favorable due to softening overseas steel market conditions caused by the slowdown of the Chinese economy, and production adjustments are expected to continue in the second half of the year.