With Japan’s steel market expecting little growth in the near future, the country’s refractories industry is looking to the sudden boost in cement demand to carry its fortunes through 2012.
Steel is by far Japan’s top market for refractories, accounting for 80% of monolithics and just over 70% of shaped refractories sales in 2010.
In contrast, Japan’s cement industry has been somewhat stagnant in recent years, accounting for less than 5-6% shaped refractories and just 1% monolithics.
However, Japan’s reconstruction programme in response to the Tohoku earthquake in north-east Japan in March 2011 is expected to galvanise the Japanese cement business for 2012.
Construction work that had been suspended across...