Slowing demand in China may see JFE cut production

Slowing demand in China may see JFE cut production

A spike in the domestic steel production of China has outpaced growth in demand, leading to an increase in Chinese exports to Japan and a decrease in imports. In light of the current situation, Japan's second largest steelmaker, JFE Steel Corp., announced that it might reduce its lower-end steel sheet production for the next few months due to a decrease in demand from China. The company will instead focus on higher quality plates such as shipbuilding plate and galvanized sheet for the automobile industry. Meanwhile, inventories of common steel products in Japan continued to increase in May. The latest figures suggest that combined inventories climbed 4.5% to 6.7 million tons during that month.