Demand for Steel Solid at Home Says Round-Table Chairman Nakamura

摘要

Shinichi Nakamura, Chairman of the Round-Table Conferenceon the Steel Industry (Executive Vice President of Nippon Steel &Sumitomo Metal) of Japan (photo), told the media his view on the environmentsurrounding the steel industry on 8 November after the Conference:"The domestic steel market is extremely strong. No negative factorscan be found in any figures." He then continued, "However, thecrude steel production in September dropped for the first time in twomonths. Our understanding is that the production output has failed tokeep up with the strong demand due partly to a series of natural disasterssuch as heavy rains and typhoons that hit the country in recent months.We steel makers will make efforts to stabilize our production and respondto customer needs in a timely manner."