According to statistics released by Japan's Ministry of Finance, Japan's hot rolled (HR) flat steel exports totaled 1.26 million metric tons in June this year, decreasing by 2.3 percent month on month and up eight percent compared to June 2012. Meanwhile, in the first half of 2013 Japan's hot rolled flat steel exports amounted to 7.8 million metric tons, rising by 16.7 percent as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
In the first half of this year, Japanese hot rolled flat steel exports to South Korea totaled 1.8 million metric tons, falling by 11.3 percent, exports to Thailand came to 887,304 metric tons, falling 2.4 percent, while China's hot rolled steel imports from Japan increased by 9.1 percent to 756,783 metric tons, all compared to January-June 2012.