According to the provisional data released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance, in 2009 Japan exported 34.15 million metric tons of iron and steel products, down 9.5 percent compared to 2008 levels. The revenue generated by these exports amounted to JPY 2.91 trillion ($32.54 billion), decreasing by 36.4 percent year on year.
The country's iron and steel product imports in the year in question totaled 4.39 million metric tons, declining by 43.1 percent, while these imports amounted to a value of JPY 497.58 billion ($5.57 billion), down 58.1 percent, both compared to 2008.
In 2009, Japanese motor vehicle exports declined 47.1 percent year on year, reaching 4.39 million units, while its ship exports totaled 17.83 million gross tons, decreasing by 1.7 percent.
On the other hand, in December 2009 Japan's total iron and steel product exports came to about 3.81 million metric tons, up 46.4 percent year on year, due to the base effect arising from the global economic downturn which started to affect the Japanese steel industry in November 2008; meanwhile, these exports totaled a value of JPY 283.57 billion ($3.17 billion), 14.9 percent lower than the December 2008 level.
At the same time, Japanese iron and steel imports in December amounted to 453,405 metric tons, down 19.6 percent year on year, totaling a value of JPY 44.29 billion ($495.61 million), down 51.9 percent year on year.