Nippon Steel Corporation, the largest steel mill in Japan, shut down its blast furnace No.1 at its plant in Kyushu due to the leakage of high-temperature iron water, and the production might not be resume again, which will cut annual steel production by one million tons and tighten the current steel supply.

However, the stoppage of Nippon Steel’s blast furnace will support the rising steel prices. According to market participants, both carbon steel and stainless steel mills in Taiwan, such as China Steel Corporation (CSC), Yieh United Steel Corp. (Yusco), Yieh Hsing, and Tang Eng, were expected to benefit from the price hikes and have a positive future outlook.