By Masumi Suga and Ichiro Suzuki
April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Demand for steel produced by Japanese mills, the world’s second-largest producer, may take three to five years to recover to levels before this recession, Japan Iron & Steel Federation Chairman Shoji Muneoka said.
“I expect it will take time” before demand is restored to 2007 peak levels, Muneoka said today at a press briefing in Tokyo Today. “Developing nations are likely to recover faster. It’s difficult to consider the U.S. market will be the first to see a recovery.”
Japan’s crude steel production tumbled by a record 13 percent to 105.5 million metric tons for the year ended March 31, the lowest since 2001, as the financial crisis damped demand from carmakers and electronics manufacturers, the Federation said April 20. Production this quarter will “bottom” before output improves next quarter, Muneoka said.
Muneoka, also the president of Nippon Steel Corp., Japan’s largest producer of the metal, said it will keep a blast furnace in Oita, southern Japan, idle for at least this quarter. The furnace was scheduled to resume operations in mid-May.
Nippon Steel and other Japanese mills, in iron ore price talks with BHP Billiton Ltd. and other producers, may take some more time to conclude, Muneoka said, without specifying the time frame.
To contact the reporters on this story: Masumi Suga in Tokyo at msuga@bloomberg.net; Ichiro Suzuki in Tokyo at isuzuki@bloomberg.net.
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