China-Japan steel trade begins changing direction

China-Japan steel trade begins changing direction

Chinese steel products, especially flat steel products, have become a focus of Japan's steel imports; on the flip side, Japan's steel exports to China have taken a noticeable drop. Based on statistics data released by the Japanese Iron and Steel Federation (JISF), Japan imported a total of 2.11 million tons of steel products from China between April 2003 and February 2005. The imports included finished steel products, semi-finished steel products, special steel and alloy steel. In detail, imports of common steel products totaled 665’500 tons, up 4-fold year on year. HR sheet/coil imports totaled 266’930 tons, up 4.6-fold, while medium plate imports totaled 238’530 tons, up from almost nil the year before. On the contrary, Japan's steel products exports to China have dropped considerably. From April 2003 through February 2005, Japan exported 5.87 million tons of steel products to China, down 4.8% year on year. In detail, exports of common steel products totaled 4.17 million tons, down 5.5% year on year. HR coil exports totaled 169’000 tons, down 50%, while stainless steel and special steel totaled 1.48 million tons, up 3.7% year on year.