Japan’s Apr domestic carbon steel sales at 51-year low
The COVID-19 outbreak and the state of emergency since early April has worsened the domestic steel market situation, according to a JISF official, as Japan’s domestic steel sales had been on declines even before the COVID-19 outbreak because of a few factors including the China-US trade friction, Japan’s consumption tax increase starting October 2019, and natural disasters including typhoon hit across Japan in late 2019, he told Mysteel Global on Wednesday.
The April sales were also 16.7% lower on month, and even lower than the 2.66 million tonnes in March 2009, the worst month after the 2008 financial crisis, he called back.
Among the total, steel orders from the manufacturers dropped the most among the few sectors by 36.5% on year and down 23.8% from March.
“The negative impact of the virus outbreak has been clearly reflected in April sales, and steel orders from the auto sector dropped by nearly half, just a typical example respond to the state of emergency and the expected demand decline,” the JISF official explained.
Japan’s ordinary carbon steel orders in Apr
Sectors |
Order Volume (‘000 t) |
M-o-M |
Y-o-M |
Construction total |
734 |
-14.8% |
-19.7% |
-(Building) |
410 |
-19.4% |
-22.5% |
-(Civil engineering) |
170 |
-11.3% |
-7.8% |
Manufacturing total |
1,045 |
-23.8% |
-36.5% |
-(Automobiles) |
391 |
-37.1% |
-49.1% |
-(Shipbuilding) |
300 |
-2.3% |
-21.0% |
-(Electrical machinery) |
93 |
-11.9% |
-28.2% |
Dealers |
853 |
-7.8% |
-26.5% |
Domestic total |
2,632 |
-16.7% |
-27.8% |
Exports |
1,358 |
-30.9% |
-31.6% |
Total orders |
3,989 |
-22.1% |
-29.2% |
As for exports, more orders from China starting April might have helped to cushion the blow but the demand from other countries had been stagnant with them busy fending off the virus attack, according to a Tokyo-based trader.
As for May, domestic steel sales may post some limited improvement, according to the trader. “The COVID-19 outbreak is something none of us has experienced, and we are still uncertain about the actual impact, so customers may just want to order in minimal volumes,” he shared.
In April, Japan’s domestic special steel orders totaled 588,249 tonnes, down 41.1% on year and 27.2% lower than March, and that for exports totalled 217,074 tonnes, down 50.5% on year or 35.1% lower on month, according to the JISF data.
Written by Yoko Manabe, yoko.manabe@mysteel.com
Edited by Hongmei Li, li.hongmei@mysteel.com
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