According to the customs statistics released by Japan's Ministry of Finance, Japan's stainless flat steel exports totaled 60,891 metric tons in May this year, falling by 4.2 percent month on month and down 3.5 percent compared to the same month of 2012.
In the first five months of 2013, Japan's stainless flat steel exports amounted to 307,437 metric tons, falling by 8.2 percent year on year. In the first five months, Japanese stainless flat steel exports to South Korea totaled 69,502 metric tons, while exports to Taiwan amounted to 54,347 metric tons, decreasing by 10.4 percent and up 32 percent respectively, both compared to the first five months of the previous year. In the period in question, the country's stainless flat steel exports to China and Thailand amounted to 50,778 mt and 40,973 mt, falling 36 percent and up 13.3 percent respectively on year-on-year basis.