In December last year, Japan's cold rolled sheet and strip shipments amounted to 496,022 metric tons, increasing by 2.8 percent month on month and down by 5.6 percent on year-on-year basis, according to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) data. In the whole of 2012, the country's CR sheet and strip shipments totaled 6.5 million mt, down six percent compared to 2011, while 52 percent of shipments were made to the domestic market and the remaining 48 percent were made to the export markets.
Meanwhile, in December, Japan's CR sheet and strip inventories decreased by 4.6 percent from the previous month, to 663,442 metric tons, up 0.4 percent year on year. 69 percent of inventories were held by steel manufacturers, while 31 percent were held by steel traders.
The average domestic price for CR sheet and strip in Japan in the fourth quarter of the year was JPY 78,000/mt ($831.7/mt), down JPY 4,000/mt ($42.6/mt) compared to the previous quarter and down JPY 8,000/mt ($85.3/mt) year on year.
In 2012, Japan's CR sheet and strip output totaled 6.5 million metric tons, decreasing by 5.7 percent compared to 2011.