Nippon Steel plans to cut sheet output

Nippon Steel plans to cut sheet output

News reports suggested over the weekend that Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel would slash its sheet output by 800'000 tons during the second half of its fiscal year ending March 2006. Nippon Steel had decreased its first-half production by 500'000 tons this year. By the end of August 2005, the steel plate inventory in Japan had increased 15 percent year on year to 4.65 million tons. This was the highest level four years, some 800'000 to 900'000 tons above normal. Japan's iron and steel output in 2004 amounted to 112.9 million tons, among which Nippon Steel accounted for 30 percent, or 30.43 million tons.