According to The Gas Review, the current supply and demand of argon is keeping a delicate balance.
Due to the declining demand for piping supply of oxygen, affected by the reduced production of crude steel, the output of co-produced argon has naturally declined.
It has caused sluggish growth in all three major demands for silicon wafers, stainless steel and welding.
With view to the supply side, the output of crude steel in January (2019) amounted to 8.14 million tonnes with a substantial decrease of 9.8% from the same term of last year and a decrease for five consecutive months, according to the statistics of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation.
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