In November this year, steel exports from Japan decreased by 8.5 percent year on year and were down five percent month on month, amounting to 2.69 million mt, according to the data published by Japan’s Ministry of Finance.
In the given month, Japanese steel exports to Asia maintained their downtrend with a year-on-year decline of 14 percent to 2.09 million mt, falling by 6.7 percent compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, the ASEAN countries received 868,000 mt of steel shipments from Japan, down 17.8 percent year on year, with the decrease rate being 7.7 percentage points higher compared to October.
Meanwhile, Japanese steel exports to the Middle East switched to an uptrend, rising by 119.1 percent compared to October to 103,000 mt, up 67.4 percent year on year.
According to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF), in 2020 the global economy is expected to recover despite the downside risks, and exports are expected to increase, while domestic steel demand from the construction and manufacturing industries is expected to fall year on year.