According to the customs statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance, Japan's iron and steel product exports in May this year amounted to 3.7 million metric tons, decreasing by 8.4 percent compared to the same month of 2012 and up by 0.9 percent month on month, while Japan's steel imports totaled 616,552 metric tons, with a month-on-month decrease of two percent and a year-on-year decrease of 10.3 percent.
Regarding Japan's major steel export markets, in May the country's steel exports to South Korea totaled 634,278 mt, down 5.3 percent, while steel exports to China decreased by 7.3 percent to 529,217 metric tons; the export volume to Taiwan amounted to 289,735 metric tons, down 7.9 percent; exports to Thailand totaled 510,740 metric tons, up 9.6 percent; while exports to the US came to 151,053 metric tons, decreasing by 31.2 percent, all compared to the previous month.
In May, Japan imported 275,160 metric tons of steel from South Korea, down 7.2 percent, it imported 110,876 metric tons from China, up by 5.8 percent, while imports from Taiwan rose to 98,573 metric tons, increasing by 3.4 percent, all compared to the previous month.
Exports | Imports | ||||||
May 2013 (mt) | Change m-o-m (%) | Change y-o-y (%) | May 2013 (mt) | Change m-o-m (%) | Change y-o-y (%) | ||
Semi-finished | 424,106 | -18.6 | -24.1 | 4,134 | -39.8 | -78.5 | |
Bars | 21,483 | -35.4 | -30.7 | 1,546 | -64.2 | -30.8 | |
74,277 | 24.3 | 42.5 | 10,644 | -13.8 | -62.6 | ||
Heavy plate | 263,653 | -10.8 | -10.7 | 35,019 | -4.7 | -25.1 | |
1,025,569 | 8.3 | 7.8 | 128,862 | -8.1 | -11.2 | ||
309,180 | -0.9 | 0.65 | 81,892 | 0.3 | -14.2 | ||
Galvanized sheet | 398,662 | 3.1 | -11.5 | 31,378 | -13.5 | -33.6 | |
Special steel | 649,780 | 9.8 | -21 | 54,951 | 31.3 | 72.9 | |