According to the customs statistics released by Japan's Ministry of Finance, Japan's stainless flat steel exports totaled 63,590 metric tons in April this year, falling by 12.4 percent month on month and down 4.5 percent compared to the same month of 2012.
In the first four months of 2013, Japan's stainless flat steel exports amounted to 246,546 metric tons, falling by 9.3 percent year on year. In the first four months, Japanese stainless flat steel exports to South Korea totaled 59,188 metric tons, while exports to Taiwan amounted to 40,652 metric tons, decreasing by 5.2 percent and up 11.5 percent respectively, both compared to the first four months of the previous year. In the period in question, the country's stainless flat steel exports to China and Thailand amounted to 40,375 mt and 35,200 mt, rising 29.1 percent and down 37.9 percent respectively on year-on-year basis.