In March this year, steel exports from Japan rose by 26.4 percent year on year to 3.46 million mt, according to the data published by Japan’s Ministry of Finance.
In the given month, Japanese steel exports to Asia increased by 22.2 percent to 2.64 million mt, with Asia ranking as Japan’s number one export market. Asia was followed by the ASEAN countries which received 1.18 million mt of steel shipments from Japan, rising by 29.7 percent year on year.
On the other hand, Japanese steel exports to the Middle East in March rose by 182 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, amounting to 154,000 mt.
Though most major Japanese steel producers have decided to cut production due to the Covid-19 epidemic, it is unlikely that this will lead to any visible declines in export allocations for the coming month, sources have said. “Local demand fell so much. So exports will continue,” a major Japanese trader said.
