Japan’s pig iron production declined by 4.5pc to 17.6mn mt in Q1 2021 compared to the same year-ago period while steel production fell by 1.7pc to 23.7mn mt in the same period, according to Japan’s Iron and Steel Federation (JISF). Hot rolled steel production dropped by 1.2pc to 20.8mn mt in Q1 2021 against the same quarter in 2020.
At the end of FY 2021 (ended March 31, 2021) Japan’s crude steel production dropped by 15.9pc to 82.8mn mt while pig iron production shrank by 19pc to 60.8mn mt compared to FY 2020. Hot rolled steel production fell by 14.8pc to 73.5mn mt in the same time frame.
The country’s crude steel production increased by 4.6pc to 8.3mn mt trailing pig iron output, which rose by 1.7pc to 6.1mn mt in March compared to the same year-ago month. Crude steel production and pig iron production increased by 11.5pc and 11.3pc, respectively, in March 2021 against the preceding month, JISF indicated.
Ordinary steel made up 76pc of the total production, with specialty comprising the remaining 24pc. The federation noted that 25pc of crude steel was produced through electric arc furnaces (EAF) in March 2021. Hot rolled steel production climbed by 4.9pc to 7.4mn mt in March against the same month in 2020 with 77pc ordinary steel and the remaining 23pc specialty steel.
In March 2021, cold-rolled wide strip rose by 4pc to 1.5mn mt, galvanized sheet climbed by 3.3pc to 888,700mt, and electrical steel increased by 8.5pc to 115,400mt, but pipes and tubes fell by 3pc to 310,000mt, all against the same year-ago month.