Japan's December steel exports down 5.6%

Japan’s December steel exports down 5.6%

Japan's steel exports in December 2004 decreased to 3.046 million tons, down 5.6% against December 2003, according to statistics released by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF). On the other hand, December steel exports finished 2.5% higher than November 2004 exports. Steel exports were 8.55 million tons for the quarter that ended December 31, 2004, down 1.2% from the same quarter of 2003. Exports for the whole of 2004 increased 2.6% to 35.303 million tons compared to the previous year.