TOKYO, June 19: Japan’s major steelmakers said on Wednesday exports to Southeast Asia are rising on the back of fresh demand as economies in the region begin to stir.

Last year exports accounted for 26 per cent of total (steel product) output (in the first half to September) but this year we believe it is going up, said a spokesman for industry leader Nippon Steel Corp.

Exports to Southeast Asia were very bad last year but have definitely improved, he said. Whether this will continue or not I do not know we just have to wait and see.

Kawasaki Steel Corp., number three in the industry, said it expected exports in the six months to September to rise to around 50 per cent of total steel product output from 45 per cent last year.

We are seeing fresh demand in South Korea and also other Southeast Asian countries, said Kawasaki spokesman Ryusuke Chiyonobu.

Also (Japanese) companies are setting up factories there, he said.

South Korean steel plate maker Hyundai Hysco Co. Ltd. was absorbing a large portion of new exports, he said.

Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. said it had signed a deal with China Steel Corp. of Taiwan earlier in the year to provide 600,000 tons of slab steel from April 2002 to June next year, which would help boost exports to the region.

Overall the level of exports will remain the same as last year, but we are seeing a rise in those to South East Asia thanks largely to this contract, said company spokesman Hirofumi Yamana.

Kobe Steel Ltd. said it too was seeing recovering demand in Asian markets.

Over the past year, Japanese steelmakers have reduced production and reduced inventories so the market is quite tight but demand is high and there is more of a need for steel products, said Gary Tsuchida, the company spokesman.

NKK Corp., Japan’s second largest steelmaker which will merge with Kawasaki under a holding company in September, forecasts its exports for the April-June period to increase three percent due to strong orders from Southeast Asia, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper said.

In the year to March just ended Nippon Steel, NKK, Sumitomo Metal and Kobe Steel suffered massive losses as demand for their produce dried up amid a global economic slump. Kawasaki Steel bucked the trend with a net profit following a loss the previous year, but all pledged to return to the black in the current term to March 2003.

AUTOMAKER: Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp. said on Wednesday it may invest in a South Korean company to be set up by US giant General Motors Corp. to take over operations at bankrupt Daewoo Motor Co.