Japan's Nippon Steel Corp, the world's third-biggest steelmaker, could halt one of the two blast furnaces in the city of Wakayama to cut capacity amid intense competition, the Nikkei business daily said.The news comes shortly after a report cited that Nippon Steel, Japan's biggest steelmaker by crude steel output, is expected to shut both blast furnaces at its Kruse Works within a few years and may even close the entire plant in the face of rising output in China.Japanese steelmakers face a future of stagnant domestic growth as the population declines, while competition abroad grows as other Asian countries step up output and trade conflicts escalate.In a few years, Nippon Steel plans to shut one blast furnace that began operating in 2009 at Wakayama, where drilling pipes and pipelines used in oil and gas fields are manufactured, while the steelmaker plans to keep the other furnace functional, according to the Nikkei report.The company said the newspaper report was not based on any announcement it made, but added that they are considering measures to strengthen competitiveness of its steel business and will announce any decisions when they are formalised.Nippon Steel plans to release its corporate results for the April-December period and details of its restructuring plan later in the day.The steelmaker saw its profit hit as slumping steel prices in Asia dented its export margins and a series of suspensions at local facilities caused by typhoons and fires interrupted production.A senior executive had said in December that Nippon Steel may close more blast furnaces as part of plans to reduce domestic facilities and costs.Nippon Steel, which has 15 blast furnaces across Japan with an annual output of 52 million tonnes of crude steel, had flagged that it may close one of the two furnaces in the western city of Kure by March 2024, as well as another at its Yawata Works in Kokura on the island of Kyushu by March next year.Last year, crude steel output in Japan, the world's third-biggest steel producer, fell 4.8 per cent to 99.28 million tonnes from a year earlier, falling below 100 million tonnes for the first time in 10 years, according to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation.Meanwhile, global crude steel production reached 1.87 billion tonnes last year, up 3.4 per cent from 2018, data from the World Steel Association showed. Output from China, the world's biggest producer and consumer, climbed to a record just shy of one billion tonnes.