In the fiscal year of 2021 (April 2021-March 2022), Japan’s eight major automakers produced approximately 23.02 million units across their global plants, down 0.4% on year and marking the third on-year decline, Mysteel Global calculated based on the latest data from each company. Among the total, auto production at their Japanese plants declined by a larger 6.8% on year to about 7.09 million units.
Market sources explained that the continuing delay in components supply, such as semiconductors, had forced Japanese automakers to trim their output plans, even though auto demand had been active.
“We understand that lower output at Japanese automakers’ domestic plants was due to the slower improvement in component deliveries. Additionally, the negative impact from the large earthquake that hit northern Japan in mid-March also weighed down the country’s auto output,” a Tokyo-based sheet trader explained.
For example, Toyota Motor had targeted to produce 3 million units at its domestic plants early, but it marked the second year for the auto manufacturer to miss the target, Mysteel Global noted.
Meanwhile, eight Japanese automakers’ global output in March approximated 2.2 million units, down 8.4% on year but 9.5% higher on month. Among the total, their domestic output was at 676,204 units, down 18.2% on year but up 3% on month, Mysteel Global calculated.
As for the current fiscal year, Japan’s auto demand has been firm and Japanese automakers are seeing high levels of backlog orders. “So Japanese automakers have to ramp up their production, though the pace of operations largely depends on their component supplies,” a second flat steel trader said.
“But other uncertainties including the impact from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the surge in crude oil prices, will have to be monitored cautiously,” he added.
Written by Yoko Manabe, yoko.manabe@mysteel.com
Note: This article has been published in accordance with an article exchange agreement between MySteel Global and SteelMint.
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