In April this year, domestic steel product consumption in Japan amounted to 3.22 million metric tons, down by 18.8 percent compared to March and falling by 30.7 percent year on year, according to the data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Association (JISF). Meanwhile, in the January-April period of the year, domestic steel product consumption in Japan decreased by 17.9 percent year on year to 15.1 million metric tons.
In the first four months of the year, steel product consumption in the construction sector of Japan fell by 15 percent to 3.11 million metric tons, while steel product consumption in the Japanese automotive sector amounted to 3.6 million metric tons, down 18 percent, both on year-on-year basis. In the given period, Japan's shipbuilding industry consumed 1.15 million metric tons of steel products, declining by 14.7 percent compared to the previous year.