According to an industry survey released by the Ministry of
Economy, Trade & Industry (METI), the Japanese steelmakers planned to produce 27.58 million tons of crude steel in the second quarter of this year, rising by 4% from a quarter ago.
A spokesman of METI said that the rise is from mills restocking to meet better demand from construction sector.
In April-June, the Japanese steelmakers planned to produce 1.07 million tons of H beams and 2.5 million tons of small bars, increasing by 8% and 9% from the previous quarter respectively.
Meanwhile, the export of steel products is forecasted at 8.83 million tons, remaining flat from a quarter ago.