Profit margin at Japan's top electric-arc furnace steelmaker in the October-December quarter hit the highest since the Jan-March quarter in 2009 of 48,800 yen a tonne, Nobuaki Nara, general affairs director at Tokyo Steel told a news conference.

"Solid construction demand will continue in Japan even after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as there are pent-up demand from redevelopment projects in central Tokyo, new warehouses construction across the nation and infrastructure upgrades to be immune to natural disasters," he said.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi, editing by Loui)