Japan’s pig iron production in the first four months of the year dropped by 0.2pc to 23.2mn mt compared to the same period in 2020, according to The Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF).
In April alone, its pig iron output increased by 15.8pc to 5.6mn mt from April last year while production dropped by 7.1pc from March 2021.
The country’s crude steel production from January to April 2021 saw a 2.7pc growth to 31.5mn mt compared to the same months last year with its April production increasing by 18.9pc to 7.8mn mt compared to last year and falling by 8pc from the prior month.
Japan’s total ordinary steel production increased by 1.5pc to 24.1mn mt in the January to April period compared to the same timeframe in 2020 while it was up by 15pc to 5.9mn mt this April from the same month last year and fell by 5.8pc from March this year, JISF reported.
Total production of specialty steel products saw a 7pc growth to 7.3mn mt from this January to April from last year and was up by 33.6pc to 1.8mn mt in April 2021 compared to April 2020. Output was down by 6.7pc this April from March 2021.
Japan’s total production of hot-rolled steel products in the first four months of 2020 rose by 2.8pc to 27.6mn mt compared to the same period in 2020 and dropped by 7.4pc to 6.8mn mt in April this year from the corresponding month in 2020.