According to the customs statistics released by Japan's Ministry of Finance, Japan's stainless flat steel exports totaled 53,386 metric tons in January this year, falling by 9.8 percent month on month and up 16.2 percent compared to January 2012. In the whole of 2012, Japan's stainless flat steel exports had fallen by 9.4 percent year on year, amounting to 783,512 metric tons.
In January this year, Japanese stainless flat steel exports to South Korea totaled 13,854 metric tons, up 20.2 percent on year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, in January Japanese stainless flat steel exports to Taiwan amounted to 8,663 metric tons, triple compared to January 2012, while exports to Thailand amounted to 8,623 metric tons, increasing by 56.7 percent, compared to the same month of the previous year.