In the January-September period of this year, Japan's cold rolled sheet and strip shipments decreased by 2.9 percent on year-on-year basis to 4.78 million metric tons, according to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) data. 53 percent of shipments were made to the domestic market and the remaining 47 percent were made to the export markets. Meanwhile, in September, the country's cold rolled sheet and strip shipments increased by 27.3 percent month on month and by eight percent year on year, totaling 568,220 metric tons.
Meanwhile, in September this year, Japan's CR sheet and strip inventories decreased by 6.3 percent from the previous month to 694,736 metric tons, and were up 11.9 percent year on year. 71 percent of inventories were held by steel manufacturers, while 29 percent were held by steel traders.
The average domestic price for CR sheet and strip in Japan in the first nine months of this year was JPY 79,000/mt ($766/mt), up JPY 1,000/mt ($9.70/mt) compared to the average price in the first nine months of the previous year.
In the first nine months of this year, Japan's CR sheet and strip output totaled 4.82 million metric tons, decreasing by 1.1 percent year on year.