In August this year, steel exports from Japan decreased by four percent year on year and were up 1.2 percent month on month, reaching 2.99 million mt, according to the data published by Japan’s Ministry of Finance.
In the given month, Asia was the main export market for Japanese suppliers with exports amounting to 2.33 million mt, down 10.8 percent year on year and 2.8 percent compared to July. The year-on-year drop in August was higher than the 4.8 percent decline in the previous month. This was due to the increased competition from India which has been aggressive in its flat steel sales in Asia for approximately more than two months, and this situation can only change in November, sources believe. Asia was followed by ASEAN with exports of 1.02 million mt, down 14.7 percent year on year.
Additionally, as domestic steel demand is not sufficient, Japanese suppliers are looking to foreign markets and are thereby increasing sales to the Middle East. Exports from Japan to the Middle East saw a further increase, almost doubling to 131,000 mt in August compared to the same month of the previous year and rising by 19 percent month on month.