Japan's steel demand dips in December, Q1 outlook flat

摘要

Steel demand in Japan fell in December amid a slowdown in the country's manufacturing sector, statistics released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) show.The country's total domestic steel consumption dropped 1.5% year on year to 3.81 million tonnes.Demand in the manufacturing sector dropped 4.6% compared with the same month in 2016 to 1.62 million tonnes due to lower steel consumption rates by the key downstream segments of shipbuilding and automotive, according to the data released last week.