Tokyo Steel Manufacturing to suspend operations at Takamatsu plant

Japanese steelmaker Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co. has announced that it will suspend production at its plant in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, western Japan, at the end of March 2012, according to Japanese news agency Jiji Press.
 
The Takamatsu plant mainly produces rebar and wire rod. Its production of crude steel in the financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively reached 107,000 mt and 64,000 mt. Japanese demand for construction steel has remained sluggish since the 2008 global financial crisis. It is not clear when production operations will resume at the Takamatsu plant.