Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe announced late on Monday, May 4, that the nationwide state of emergency will be extended to May 31, while originally it was to end on May 6. The Japanese government has received warning from experts that lifting the state of emergency may lead to another wave in the spread of Covid-19. In prefectures with very low levels of infections, restrictions will be relaxed.
Japan has slightly less than 16,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases on Monday. The number of new daily infections has dropped significantly (from the peak of 700 to about 200), but it has still not been enough to lower restrictions, according to the government official.
Steel market sources believe that the longer state of emergency in Japan compared to other Asian countries is connected with the later announcement of nationwide measures. The state of emergency in seven prefectures in Japan was announced on April 7, while it became nationwide on April 16.
It is expected the domestic steel demand will remain reduced in May and will start to recover gradually in June. Japanese steel and scrap exporters will be active in the global market in the near future. Steel product exports in Japan surged by 22.5 percent year on year to 9.3 million mt in the first quarter this year. According to the latest data published by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, domestic steel consumption in February this year was slightly less than 3 million mt, down five percent from January and 14.1 percent lower than February 2019.
