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Steel-sheet product sales among coil centers across Japan during fiscal 2020 (April 2020-March 2021) plunged by 14.6% on year to 13.67 million tonnes, the lowest ever, according to the latest data by industry grouping the Zenkoku Coil Center Kogyo-kai (ZCCK). Industry insiders blamed the sales decline on the severe drop in the first half of the fiscal year as Japan’s economy slowed under the weight of the coronavirus.
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Japan’s steel scrap prices have been flat during the Golden Week holiday over April 29-May 5 and market sources are waiting for the results of the monthly H2 grade scrap export tender that are to be out on May 11 for some sense of direction, traders in Tokyo shared on May 7.
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The second wave of Covid-19 is threatening to slam the brakes on the automotive sector that was just beginning to accelerate. The cautious optimism with which the auto-makers looked forward to FY ’22 has given way to worry as the sudden spike in the infections has led to lockdown in many key markets. In recent weeks, there have been a number of automakers that have had to shut down their manufacturing plants due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases.
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Global automobile production by Japan’s eight major automakers during the fiscal 2020 (April 2020-March 2021) fell to a nine-year low, or recording a 12.2% on-year decline to about 23.12 million units, according to the latest data released by the automakers, though the on-year decline was not as steep as the market had expected.
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China’s heavy trucks sales may have slowed in April, with the sales volume expected to grow 4% on year but down 14% on month, as demand may take a pause after a robust March even though the National Stage VI specifications will be adopted starting H2, according to the projection by the Beijing-headquartered Commercial Vehicle World (CVWorld) on May 5.
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Japan’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for its manufacturing industry for April rose by another 0.9 basis points on month to 53.6, indicating that Japanese manufacturers expect a stronger degree of positive sentiment regarding the year-ahead outlook for output, according to data from index compiler au Jibun Bank Corporation, released on April 30.
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Japan’s carbon steel exports during fiscal 2020 (April 2020-March 2021) declined by 12.8% on year to some 20.26 million tonnes, according to the latest data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation on April 30, a fall the JISF attributed to the global coronavirus outbreak.
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Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest integrated mill, is adding another Yen 10,000-15,000/tonne ($92-138/t) to its prices of carbon steel flats for June shipments to spot buyers and re-rollers, a company official confirmed Wednesday, stressing that “the additional hike is vital for us to keep supply flat products smoothly.” But market participants canvassed by Mysteel Global were not impressed that the steel giant had hiked spot prices for two consecutive months and each time by a large margin.
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Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest integrated steelmaker, has decided to add Yen 10,000/tonne ($92/t) onto its commodity-grade heavy plate list price for spot sales and to the construction steel processors in May, just to reflect higher input costs, a company official confirmed on April 27.
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Starting July 1, China will ban both production and sales of new diesel-fuelled heavy-duty trucks with emission not up to the National Stage VI specifications, according to a recent release by the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and MIIT, to minimize any confusion, even listed out the auto makers, auto models, and auto parts that are to be eliminated in the April 21 notice.
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Over April 19-23, Japan’s domestically-generated H2 grade scrap prices rose Yen 1,000/tonne ($9/t) on week for domestic sales, while export market had been quiet due to too high offers from the Japanese suppliers, scrap traders in Tokyo shared on April 26.
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Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japan’s top electric-arc-furnaces steel producer, targets to grow its carbon finished steel sales by 24% on year to 2.6 million tonnes over fiscal 2021 (April 2021-March 2022), mainly to respond to the higher steel demand, a company director shared on April 27.
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Japan’s steel value chain including steel producers and end-users expects little impact of the third state of emergency on their operations, even though the latest partial lockdown will be running over April 25-May 11, affecting Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto and Hyogo in western Japan.
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China’s production of the four major home appliances increased significantly in the first quarter of this year, given the low bases in the same period last year, as well as their sustained strong export business. But dampening the manufacturers’ mood was the rise in raw materials and other input costs, Mysteel Global noted.
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Like their counterparts worldwide, carmakers in China are struggling with the shortage of automotive-use semiconductors, and with the chip shortage expected to be prolonged, fears are growing that production delays could undermine the strength of the country’s burgeoning market for New Energy Vehicles (NEVs).
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Osaka Steel, Japan’s largest steel section producer, will remain its list prices of sections unchanged on month for May domestic sales, so that the spot market has one more month to digest the previous price increments, though the company mulls the possibility of raising prices in June, a company official confirmed on Friday.
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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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Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest integrated steelmaker, has decided to raise the prices of its carbon steel welded and seamless pipes by 10% or about Yen 15,000/tonne ($139/t) for spot domestic sales for May, or the first time since the rise in February, to reflect higher input costs and supply tightness, a company official confirmed on April 22.
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Over January-March, China’s shipbuilders received new vessel orders totalling 17.2 million dead weight tons (dwt), up 251.7% on year and much higher than the 105% on-year rise for January-February, mainly due to the low base in Q1 2020 and growing demand for container vessels, according to the data released by the China Association of National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) on April 21.
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Kyoei Steel, Japan’s largest rebar producer, has decided to increase its rebar price by 3,000/tonne ($28/t) to Yen 85,000/t for all its four plants across Japan for May domestic sales, mainly to transfer higher input costs and also to brace for rises in raw material prices in the future, the company announced on April 20.
