Japan's crude steel production falls over 6% y-o-y in May'24

Japan's crude steel production in May fell by 6.3% y-o-y to 7.168 million tonnes, as per Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF). This marks the third consecutive month of y-o-y decline. The daily production in May was 231,000 tonnes, which translates to an annualized production of around 84 mnt, a low level.

Sluggish demand dampens production

Due to a slowdown in demand for steel products, production activity continued to decrease in May. The daily production in May was about 4,000 t lower than in April, reaching the lowest level seen so far this year.

Breakdown by furnace

Converter steel production decreased by 5.7% y-o-y to 5.283 mnt. Moreover, Electric furnace steel production decreased by 7.8% y-o-y to 1.885 mnt. Both types of steel production saw declines for the third consecutive month.

Decline in steel production

Steel production has declined for the third month in a row. Both ordinary and specialty steel production have decreased y-o-y. Ordinary steel production fell by 7% y-o-y to 5.549 mnt, while specialty steel production decreased by 3.6% y-o-y to 1.619 mnt.

Overall, hot-rolled steel production decreased by 6.7% y-o-y to 6.359 mnt. The ordinary hot-rolled steel production also fell by 7.1% y-o-y to 5.053 mnt.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Japan Metal daily and BigMint.