In July, Japan’s finished carbon steel sales both at home and abroad rose by 9.5% on year to about 5.16 million tonnes, and the volume for January-July gained 12.8% on year to 35.65 million tonnes, according to the release by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on September 16, reflecting the remaining firm demand in and out of the country, according to market sources.
JISF officials in charge of the statistics were not available for comment on Friday, but market sources attributed the growths to demand and low base a year ago.
The July sales volume was down 0.7% on month, though a sales official from an integrated mill in Tokyo dismissed any concern. “We understand that Japan’s steel sales have been increasing steadily to both domestic and overseas buyers,” he added.
Besides, the sales volume for July persisted above the threshold of 5 million tonnes for the fifth consecutive month, which was close to pre-pandemic level as the monthly average of 2019 was at 5.24 million tonnes/month, Mysteel Global noted.
The breakdowns by sector showed that steel sales to Japan’s manufacturers rose rather substantially by 32.5% on year for July, and “carbon steel sales in July to shipbuilders had been gradually improving, though the volume still lower on year, and we anticipate more orders from them with the definite improvement in new vessel orders,” a Tokyo-based steel trader commented.
The increase, however, may not be too rapid, as “supply tightness in plate has been rather severe, and machinery manufacturers have already been struggling with steel deliveries,” he added.
Heavy plate, the second popular steel product in Japan’s carbon steel sales, accounted for 741,663 tonnes, up 3.8% on year and 6% higher on month, according to the JISF data.
In July, hot-rolled coil (HRC), the most popular steel product in Japan’s carbon steel sales gained 0.8% on year but fell 7.7% on month to 1.66 million tonnes, probably mainly due to lower exports and lower auto production by the Japanese automakers in and out of Japan, according to the trader.
Japan’s carbon steel exports stayed almost flat on year but fell 3.2% on month in July, according to the JISF data.
“We do need to monitor the development among the Japanese automakers very closely,” the trader added.
Toyota Motor, Japan’s largest automaker, for example, has announced to trim its global vehicle production by about 40% from its initial plans for September and October, as reported.
Written by Yoko Manabe, yoko.manabe@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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