According to the Japanese Ministry of Trade (METI), Japanese demand for crude steel in the fourth quarter of the current year is expected to total 27.97 million mt, unchanged from the previous quarter, with an expected increase of eight percent compared to the same quarter of 2012.
Total demand for Japanese steel, including exports, is expected to reach 24.6 million mt in the fourth quarter, up five percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. Of the estimated fourth quarter demand, exports are expected to account for 8.51 million mt, up four percent year on year and falling by 4.6 percent compared with the estimate for the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, of the total demand in the fourth quarter, 19.6 million mt is expected to be for ordinary steel, rising 3.2 percent year on year and down 0.9 percent from the estimated data for the previous quarter, while 5 million mt of demand is expected to be for special steel, up 12.8 percent year on year and down 2.7 percent from the estimated data for the third quarter this year.
The ministry announced that in the fourth quarter demand from the domestic construction sector will be higher compared to the same quarter of the previous year because of a steady increase in demand from housing construction due to last-minute demand before the consumption tax hike and as a result of other factors in the architecture sector. Meanwhile, manufacturers' steel demand will increase on year-on-year basis due to steady automobile production as well as a bottoming-out of the prolonged decrease in demand for shipbuilding.