Japan/ Aug. crude steel output dives 18.3% on year

Japan/ Aug. crude steel output dives 18.3% on year to 8.3 mil. tons. Crude steel output in Japan fell 18.3 percent in August from a year earlier to 8.31 million tons, extending its losing streak to an eleventh straight month amid anemic demand stemming from the global economic slowdown, an industry body said. The Japan Iron and Steel Federation said, however, that the rate of decline shrank for the fifth straight month after posting the sharpest-ever percentage fall of 46.7 percent in March. The federation attributed the improvement partly to rebounding exports, especially those to China. On a month-to-month basis, August production marked an 8.5 percent rise and recovered the 8 million ton line for the first time in nine months. As for domestic demand factors, orders from automakers are bouncing back, leading steelmakers to soften output cutbacks. Among the makers, Nippon Steel Corp. restarted operations at a blast furnace at its Oita steel plant in Oita Prefecture on Aug. 2. But the output of specialty steel with enhanced strength plummeted 32.0 percent from the year before to 1.50 million tons due to sluggish corporate capital investment. Output of ordinary steel used in a broader range of products dropped a milder 14.5 percent to 6.81 million tons. Given that overall crude steel output had been hovering above the 10 million ton level a month through October last year, monthly crude output is likely to remain under year-before levels for the time being, federation officials said.