In September this year, steel exports from Japan increased by 13.8 percent year on year and were up 1.7 percent month on month, reaching 3.04 million mt, according to the data published by Japan’s Ministry of Finance. In the coming months, Japanese exporters will maintain a higher level of sales before some maintenance works expected in December and January. In the meantime, they will try to keep their positions in Asia and will also try to increase their presence in the EU and the Middle East.
In the given month, Japanese exports to Asia and the ASEAN region switched to an uptrend, following the decreases in previous months. Asia continued to remain the main export market for Japanese suppliers, with exports amounting to 2.42 million mt, up nine percent year on year and 3.86 percent compared to August. Asia was followed by the ASEAN countries, with exports of 1.02 million mt, up 7.6 percent year on year and stable compared to the previous month.
Although Japanese steel exports to the Middle East decreased by 30.5 percent month on month to 91,000 mt in September, it still was an important destination with a year-on-year growth of 58.7 percent.