Steel production in Japan in 2018 fell by 0.3%

Steel production in Japan fell 0.3% year-on-year in 2018 to 104.33 million tonnes, according to data released Wednesday by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation.

A JISF official said Thursday that demand for steel was steady, but natural disasters in the second half of 2018, including heavy rains in western Japan in July, typhoon Jebi in September and the Hokkaido earthquake in September also affected production. He said production problems at the mills late last year also led to a drop in overall production.

“Production during fiscal 2018 (April 2018 - March 2019) could be higher,” a JISF spokesman said. Converter production in 2018 was 78.23 Mt, down 1.4% year-on-year, while electric arc furnace production was 26.1 Mt, up 3.1% from in the previous year. A JISF spokesman said both conventional and specialty electric arc furnaces are being produced at high levels to meet the strong demand for structural steel and specialty steel for the automotive industry.

For various types of products, the production of hot rolled coils in 2018 amounted to 41.1 million tons, which is 3.7% less than in the same period, and the production of small rolled products amounted to 8.57 million tons, which is 0.8% more. than the previous year. H-beam production was 4.02 million tonnes, up 4.1% over the same period. according to.

Meanwhile, December crude steel production in Japan totaled 8.47 million tonnes, 2.9% less than a year ago and 2.2% less than in November.