Japan’s crude steel production in December 2020 stood at 7.52mn mt, down by 3.3pc from December 2019 but up by 3.6pc from November, according to data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF).
Ordinary steel output in December stood at 5.79mn mt, up by 1pc from the prior month and down by 3.1pc from the prior year, while special steel production grew by 13.6pc to 1.73mn mt from Nov 2020 but down by 4pc from the previous year.
Production of hot-rolled steel (total of ordinary steel and special steel) in December 2020 stood at 6.53mn mt, down by 0.1pc from the previous month and by 3.3pc from the same month in 2019, declining for the 30th consecutive month.
This included hot-rolled ordinary steel output at 5.08mt mt, down 1.5pc from November and by 4pc from Dec 2019, while hot-rolled special steel production grew by 4.9pc to 1.45mn mt from the prior month but down by 0.9pc from the previous year.
The country’s Pig iron output in December fell by 6.2pc to 5.64mn mt from the same month the year before but rose by 9.9pc from the preceding month.
2020 cumulative figure
Japan’s total crude steel production in 2020 fell by 16.2pc to 83.1mn mt as compared to 99.2mn mt produced in 2019, declining for the sixth consecutive year.
Ordinary steel output stood at 65.7mn mt, down by 13.0pc from the previous year, while special steel production fell by 26.4pc to 17.4mn mt as compared to the previous year.
Production of hot-rolled steel (total of ordinary steel and special steel) stood at 73.7mn mt, down by 15.9pc from the preceding year, declining for the sixth consecutive year.
Hot-rolled ordinary steel in 2020 fell by 13.5pc to 59,2mn mt, while hot-rolled special steel stood at 14.5mn mt, down by 24.4pc from 2019.
The country’s Pig iron output in 2020 stood at 61.6mn mt, down by 17.8pc from 74.9mn mt in the previous year.