The World Steel Association (worldsteel)’s 52nd annual meeting was held in Tokyo in mid-October. The Chairman of the Japan Economic Research Center (JCER) pointed out that Japanese economy has grown at an average annual rate of 1.4% since the Second World War, and inflation rate was currently at 0.9%, still below the 2% target.

In the steel industry, despite the decline in Japanese crude steel production in July this year, it remained stable, reflecting the successful industrial transformation with high added value.

One of the factors affecting Japaneses steel demand was the decline of Japanese population, aging, the decline in housing operating rates and the low interest in car buying among young people.

The driving factor for increasing demand for steel in Japan was urban renewal demand, especially for highway bridges, tunnels, river management facilities and port terminals. The other part was the reconstruction of natural disasters, which have led to an increase in demand for steel.

In addition, Japan has been hit hard by US' auto and auto parts tariffs. The JCER Chairman stressed that the export restrictions in the NAFTA renegotiation were inconsistent with WTO rules and warned that Japan should avoid any exchange rate agreements in negotiations with the US.