Japan's iron and steel product exports up 0.8 percent in May

In May this year, Japan's iron and steel product exports amounted to 3.22 million metric tons, rising by 13.6 percent month on month and up by 0.8 percent year on year, while Japan's iron and steel product imports totaled 739,971 metric tons, with a month-on-month increase of two percent and a year-on-year rise of 4.4 percent, according to the customs statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (JISF).

In the January-May period of this year, Japanese iron and steel product exports amounted to 15.51 million mt, declining by 3.4 percent, while Japanese iron and steel product imports came to 3.52 million mt, falling by 0.5 percent, both compared to the same period of 2017. 

Regarding Japan's major iron and steel product export markets, in the first five months of this year the country's iron and steel exports to South Korea totaled 2.29 million mt, down 11.1 percent, while exports to China decreased by 4.8 percent to 2.29 million mt, the export volume to Taiwan amounted to 1.17 million metric tons, up 0.3 percent, exports to Thailand totaled 2.35 million metric tons, rising by 3.3 percent, while exports to the US totaled 687,360 metric tons, falling by 12 percent, all year on year. 

In the January-May period of the current year, Japan imported 1.63 million metric tons of iron and steel products from South Korea, down 6.7 percent, it imported 560,736 metric tons from China, decreasing by 5.1 percent, while imports from Taiwan fell 2.8 percent to 464,703 metric tons, all compared to the same period of last year.