Demand for Japanese steel products may decline
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expects demand for Japanese steel products to fall 3.4 percent year on year to 25.76 million tons in January-March period.
A projected drop of 16.1 percent in exports will contribute to this forecast.
Demand in
Japan is expected to retain strong due to demand from automakers and is expected to increase 0.9 percent for ordinary steel and 2.2 percent for special steel.
Japan's crude steel
production is also expected to fall 1.6 percent year on year to 27.3 million tons in January-March period.