According to statistics released by Japan's Ministry of Finance, Japan's hot rolled flat steel exports totaled 951,563 metric tons in November this year, decreasing by 7.87 percent month on month and down 12 percent compared to November 2010.
In the month in question, South Korea saw its hot rolled steel imports from Japan increase by 7.6 percent month on month to 245,811 metric tons, while a drop of 35.7 percent was registered compared to November 2010. China imported 129,756 metric tons from the same source, up 8.4 percent month on month and down 12.3 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in the January-November period of 2011, Japan's hot rolled steel exports amounted to 11.85 million metric tons, falling by 3.4 percent as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
In the first 11 months of this year, Japanese hot rolled steel exports to South Korea totaled 3.7 million metric tons, falling by 25 percent, exports to China came to 1.4 million metric tons, remaining stable, while India increased its hot rolled steel imports from Japan by 43.64 percent to 381,777 metric tons, all compared to January-November 2010.