In the January-October period of this year, Japan's cold rolled sheet and strip shipments decreased by three percent on year-on-year basis to 5.28 million metric tons, according to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) data. 54 percent of shipments were made to the domestic market and the remaining 46 percent were made to the export markets. Meanwhile, in October, the country's cold rolled sheet and strip shipments decreased by 7.6 percent month on month and by 1.7 percent year on year, totaling 515,694 metric tons.
Meanwhile, in October this year, Japan's CR sheet and strip inventories increased by 7.5 percent from the previous month to 739,386 metric tons, and were up 14 percent year on year. 72 percent of inventories were held by steel manufacturers, while 28 percent were held by steel traders.
The average domestic price for CR sheet and strip in Japan in the first 10 months of this year was JPY 79,000/mt ($652/mt), up JPY 800/mt ($6.6/mt) compared to the average price in the first 10 months of the previous year.
In the first 10 months of this year, Japan's CR sheet and strip output totaled 5.37 million metric tons, decreasing by 1.1 percent year on year.