Japanese steel output in September fell year-on-year as the sector continues to struggle with weak demand. A rebound in export volumes did little to support output volume however, Kallanish notes.

In September, Japanese steelmakers produced 8.045 million tonnes of crude steel, down -0.9% month-on-month and -4.1% y-o-y, according to data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (Jisf). That leaves crude steel production over the financial year starting April 2019 down -3% at 50.669mt.

Hot rolled product output was also down -4.1% m-o-m and -5.2% y-o-y at 6.959mt in September and down -3.7% at 44.242mt over April-September.

September export volumes actually rebounded 13.8% y-o-y to 3.041mt. That was largely due to a very weak September 2018 however. Exports over April-September were down -4% at 14.77mt.