In May this year, domestic steel product consumption in Japan amounted to 3.57 million metric tons, down 8.6 percent compared to the previous month, but up 2.5 percent year on year, according to data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF). Meanwhile, in the first five months of 2026, domestic steel consumption in the country increased by 5.1 percent year on year to 18.58 million metric tons.
In the January-May period, steel product consumption in Japan’s construction sector rose by 2.2 percent year on year to 3.45 million metric tons, while consumption in the Japanese automotive sector amounted to 4.74 million metric tons, up 5.4 percent. In the same period, Japan’s shipbuilding industry consumed 1.19 million metric tons of steel products, increasing by 3.9 percent year on year.
