This year, Japan posted its lowest crude steel production in the last 10 years for the July-September quarter, with 24.55 million mt, down 4.3 percent compared to the same period of last year, according to the data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF). This was due to plant shutdowns amid typhoons in the country. In September this year, Japanese crude steel production was down by 0.9 percent compared to the previous month and fell by 4.5 percent compared to September last year, totaling 8.04 million mt. In the given period, Japan’s crude steel production from basic oxygen furnaces decreased by 4.6 percent month on month and by 4.1 percent year on year to 6.06 million mt, while production from electric arc furnaces increased by 12.2 percent month on month and down by 5.9 percent year on year to 1.98 million mt.
In the January-September period of this year, the country's crude steel production came to 75.64 million metric tons, falling by 3.8 percent year on year. In the first nine months, Japan’s crude steel production from basic oxygen furnaces decreased by 3.4 percent year on year to 57.22 million mt, while production from electric arc furnaces decreased by 5.1 percent year on year to 18.41 million mt.
The production volume of some steel products in Japan can be seen in the chart below:
|
Product |
September 2019 (mt) |
M-o-m change (%) |
Y-o-y change (%) |
|
Hot rolled section |
433,600 |
+2.8 |
-2.6 |
|
Bar |
731,100 |
+6.4 |
-5.2 |
|
Wire rod |
128,800 |
+0.2 |
-3.8 |
|
Heavy plate |
823,500 |
+2.6 |
-2.9 |
|
Hot rolled wide strip |
3,164,600 |
-10.1 |
-3.6 |
|
Cold rolled wide strip |
1,298,200 |
-1.1 |
-2.3 |
|
Galvanized sheet |
837,800 |
+1.8 |
+0.9 |
|
Welded pipe |
312,200 |
+5.7 |
-3.5 |