This will continue to rise in the first half of the year but not throughout 2010
Stronger power demand from heavy industrial users may have boosted Japan’s year-on-year electricity generation in March, and is likely to continue rising in the first half of the year compared to a year earlier.
An Iron and Steel Factory in Kyoto
“With power demand from industrial users picking up, I think we’re going to see firm demand on a year-on-year basis until about June or July,” Reuters quoted Kaname Gokon, research manager at broker Okato Shoji in Tokyo, as saying.
Reuters said its projections show that the 7.7% rise in electricity generation posted in March was the fastest year-onyear increase in Japan in one and a half years.
Japan’s electricity output jumped 6.1% during the first quarter of the year from a year earlier, owing to increased demand for goods from emerging markets like China, while output fell 1.9% in the fourth quarter of 2009.
The gains may not continue throughout 2010, however, as Japan’s economic growth is seen to slow as worldwide spending from stimulus packages fades.
A number of Japanese power firms announced their expectations of a slow to moderate growth for the current business year.
Power consumption in the world’s second-biggest economy tumbled during the first half of last year as manufacturers cut production to keep themselves afloat during the economic meltdown.
The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan was set to release on April 13 data showing the fourth straight month of increases in power generation and the biggest gain since a 9.5% jump in July 2008.
In February, Japan’s 10 power firms generated 80.02 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, a 7.4% rise from the previous year, when power output registered a recordlow of 15.8%.
