[Markets] Japanese Refractories Recovery

Statistics published by the Japan Refractories Association on production and consumption paint a picture of steady recovery of domestic market demand in recent years. Although Japanese refractory production has witnessed an overall 8.6% decline from 1998 to 2007, it has grown by 4.7% from 2003's low of 1.1M/t to 1.2M/t in 2007. In a reflection of the continuing decline of specific refractory consumption per tonne of crude steel produced (7.4kg/tonne in 2007 against 10.6kg/t in 1998), while crude steel production increased by a massive 33.6% from 90.9M/t to 121.5M/t over the period, refractories sold to steelmaking in Japan dropped by 7.2%.