In November last year, domestic steel product consumption in Japan amounted to 4.12 million metric tons, down by 4.8 percent compared to October and falling by 14.5 percent year on year, according to the data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Association (JISF). Meanwhile, in the January-November period of the given year, domestic steel product consumption in Japan decreased by 6.9 percent year on year to 48.25 million metric tons.
In the January-November period last year, steel product consumption in the construction sector of Japan decreased by 9.2 percent to 9.63 million metric tons, while steel product consumption in the Japanese automotive sector amounted to 11.77 million metric tons, down 5.8 percent, both on year-on-year basis. In the given period, Japan's shipbuilding industry consumed 3.54 million metric tons of steel products, up 6.1 percent compared to the same period of 2018.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, Japanese crude steel production declined by 4.5 percent in the January-November period. Nippon Steel will reduce production in February due to planned maintenance work, as domestic steel demand is lower amid seasonal factors. Japanese mills will have limited allocation for exports for February production HRC and will increase offer volumes for foreign buyers for March production flat steel products, SteelOrbis predicts.