According to statistics released by Japan's Ministry of Finance, Japan's ferroalloy imports totaled 132,889 metric tons in March this year, increasing by 30.3 percent compared to the previous month, following three months of month-on-month decrease, and were up 7.2 percent compared to March 2012.
In the first three months of the year, Japan's ferroalloy imports amounted to 366,922 mt, decreasing by 2.8 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
In the first quarter of the current year, Japan's ferroalloy imports from South Africa decreased to 75,957 metric tons, down 9.2 percent year on year, while Kazakhstan exported 69,897 mt of ferroalloy to Japan in the first quarter, decreasing by 6.95 percent compared to the first quarter of 2012. Meanwhile, China's ferroalloy exports to Japan in the period in question fell to 62,080 mt, up 0.8 percent year on year.