Japanese crude steel production in February fell 7.9% year on year to 7.47 million mt, a 12th consecutive decline, data from the Japan Iron & Steel Federation showed March 22.
Output also fell 8.8% from January.
Basic oxygen furnace output accounted for 5.55 million mt of overall production, down 8.9% month on month and 7.2% year on year, while electric arc furnaces delivered 1.92 million mt, up 4.8% from January but a 0.9% dip from the year before.
Annual production from conventional furnaces fell for a 12th consecutive month, while the EAFs posted their first fall in two months.
For the hot rolled products, hot rolled wide strip saw the largest volume decline, of 219,779 mt, down 6.7% month on month at 3.06 million mt , while section steel output fell 53,321 mt, or 12.6%, to 368,900 mt. Output of steel bars, on the other hand, rose slightly by 3.2% to 674,900 mt.
Amid lower output of hot rolled wide strip, Toyota Motor Corp. suspended production for several days in February at as many as 14 domestic production lines over nine plants after a Feb. 13 earthquake affected the supply of automotive components to the plants.
"In Japan, there is still a sense of stagnation in the movement of cargo in the market for building material varieties, and there is a delay in the movement of passing on distribution prices," Tokyo Steel said March 22 as it kept its April list prices for H-beams and rebar unchanged at Yen 93,000/mt ($855) and Yen 73,000/mt, respectively, from March.
But Tokyo Steel said inventories of steel sheet are low in Japan amid a strong manufacturing industry, and decided to raise its April prices for SPHC 1.7-22 mm hot-rolled coil by Yen 5,000/mt to Yen 84,000/mt.
Manufacturing costs for steelmakers are increasing, according to Tokyo Steel, noting that "high steel raw material prices, crude oil prices and auxiliary material related prices are also on the rise."
-- Steel Business Briefing
Source : Steel Business Briefing
