METI: steel demand is expected to decline from January to March 2020

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said that although Japan's steel demand will rebound slightly from October to December this year, it is expected that January to March next year will be lower than the same period this year.

METI said that from January to March 2020, Japan's steel demand is expected to exceed 21.7 million tons, down 3% from the same period last year, but slightly increased by 0.3% compared with the previous quarter. Among them, the demand for ordinary steel is expected to be 17.1 million tons, down 0.5% year-on-year, and the demand for special steel is 4.6 million tons, down 10% year-on-year.

METI expects domestic steel demand in Japan to fall 6% to 15 million tons in January March next year due to the slowdown in manufacturing activities.

From January to March 2020, Japan's steel export demand is expected to reach 6.7 million tons, an increase of 6% year-on-year, and an increase of 4% from October to December this year. Export demand is expected to increase, mainly supported by the increase in demand for ordinary steel exports. The Ministry said that from January to March next year, Japan's general steel export demand is expected to increase by 10% to 5.4 million tons year on year. The year-on-year growth of steel demand is mainly due to the interruption of steel output of Japan from January to March this year.