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Toyota Motor, Japan’s largest auto maker, will deepen the cuts on its September auto output globally to 430,000 units than the planned 360,000 units announced on August 19, mainly due to limited improvement in deliveries of auto components from Southeast Asia amid the latest wave of the COVID-19 in the region, according to a company official on September 10.
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The world’s top steelmaker China Baowu Steel Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the world’s top crude oil producer Saudi Aramco through its Shanghai-listed arm - Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (Baoshan Steel), planning to build an integrated heavy plate steel mill in Saudi Arabia, Baoshan Steel disclosed on September 9.
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Japan’s carbon steel exports in July rose by 22.9% on year to about 1.96 million tonnes, or up on year for the third month after one year of drops, according to the latest data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on August 30, though the volume could have been higher if domestic mills had not prioritized domestic needs, a JISF official commented.
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In July, Japan’s crude steel output including carbon and special steel rose by 32.5% on year to about 8 million tonnes, or the fifth consecutive month with an on-year rise, though it was 1.3% lower than in June, according to the latest data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on August 23.
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The COVID-19 outbreak’s impact on the Japanese economy during fiscal 2020 (April 2020-March 2021) hit every production base at all three of the country’s integrated mills, newly-released data from mills published this week show. Most apparent are the drops at those works where blast furnaces were banked when steel demand tumbled, industry watchers noted.
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China Baowu Steel Group Co (Baowu), the world’s top steel producer, will ignite its third blast furnace also with a size of 5,050 cu m just as planned in the second half of 2021 at its Zhanjiang steelworks in South China’s Guangdong province, an official of the steelworks confirmed on July 6, rebutting a market rumour about the “indefinite” delay of the commissioning.
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Japan’s carbon steel exports achieved its first on-year gain in May in the 13 months, or up 9.5% on year to about 1.79 million tonnes, according to the data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on June 30, though the volume was not high, as the Japanese steel producers had been prioritizing domestic demand, a JISF official said.
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For May, Japan’s exports of finished steel in all grades and forms rose by 10.9% on year to about 2.75 million tonnes, or the first month with an on-year gain after 12 consecutive months of drops, according to the preliminary data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance on June 16.
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For April, Japan’s carbon steel exports dropped by 4.2% on year to about 1.72 million tonnes, according to the latest data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on May 31, which was the 12th month with an on-year decline, though an JISF official dismissed any concern, emphasizing that the country’s steel exports had been improving.
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Kobe Steel, Japan’s third largest integrated steelmaker, has raised its wire rod and bar list prices by Yen 5,000/tonne ($46/t) for July sales to both its domestic and overseas customers as part of the efforts to pass on some added input costs, a company official confirmed on June 1.
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China’s steel mills should conduct a more thorough study when exploring overseas steel investment opportunities either in greenfield projects or takeovers of existing steel assets, as risks have been arising in steel overcapacity in some countries or the growing difficulties in receiving funding, Ruan Qinghua, vice general manager of Capital Engineering & Research Incorporation Limited of Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) reminded the market.
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The new guideline governing steel capacity ‘swaps’ in China to take effect next week will help the steel industry to meet new challenges over 2021-2025, said Lv Guixin, an official with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and called for its strict implementation.
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For April, Japan’s crude steel production including both carbon and special steel rose by 18.9% on year to about 7.82 million tonnes, or the second month scoring an on-year rise, according to the latest data from the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on May 21.
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Anyang Iron & Steel Group (Angang), a 10 million tonnes/year steelmaker headquartered in Anyang city of Central China’s Henan province, formally blew-in a 1,860 cu m blast furnace at its greenfield steelworks in Zhoukou city, also in Henan, on May 18, the steelmaker announced via a Wechat post the same day.
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China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Ministry of Information and Technology (MIIT) are inaugurating a nationwide probe to verify the progress made in terms of steel capacity elimination since 2016, a re-examination which market insiders suggest could be a precursor to the central government unveiling new measures aimed at limiting crude steel output this year.
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After nearly one and a half years of long wait, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information (MIIT), the governing body of the domestic steel industry, released the updated detailed guidelines regarding the old-for-new steel capacity swaps in China on May 6, and it will take effect on June 1 nationwide.
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Japan’s crude steel output during fiscal 2020 (April 2020-March 2021) including both carbon and special steel declined to a new low since fiscal 1969, down 15.9% on year to about 82.8 million tonnes, according to the latest data from the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) released on April 22.
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Japan’s finished steel exports of all grades and forms for the fiscal year 2020 (April 2020-March 2021) slumped to its 20-year low of about 30.8 million tonnes, or down 12.2% on year, Mysteel Global noted from the latest preliminary data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance on April 19.
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Laoting Steel, a steelmaker under the umbrella of Hebei Iron & Steel Group (HBIS), this week commissioned the No.3 blast furnace at its new works in Laoting county in North China’s Tangshan city, meaning that all three of the steelworks’ 2,922 cu m blast furnaces are operation, a HBIS official confirmed on April 15.
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Japanese steelmaker and plant builder Kobe Steel has announced the first successful charge of Hot Direct Reduced Iron (HDRI) produced by a new DRI plant constructed in Algeria and supplied by Midrex Technologies, Inc. Kobe’s wholly owned subsidiary in the US, with its consortium partner Paul Wurth S.A based in Luxembourg.
