Japan’s steel exports up 14.1 percent in Jan-Apr

According to the customs statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance, Japan's iron and steel product exports in April this year amounted to 3.6 million metric tons, increasing by 17.8 percent compared to the same month of 2012 but down by 10.6 percent month on month, while Japan's steel imports amounted to 629,352 metric tons, with a month-on-month increase of 9.7 percent and a year-on-year decrease of 0.8 percent.
 
In the first four months of the year, Japan's iron and steel product exports amounted to 15 million mt, up 14.1 percent, while the country's iron and steel product imports decreased by 9.6 percent to 2.35 million mt, both compared to the first four months of the previous year. Meanwhile, in the January-April period of the year Japan imported 43 million mt of iron ore, increasing by two percent, and 506,854 mt of ferroalloys, down two percent, both compared to the same period of 2012.

Regarding Japan's major steel export markets, in the first four months the country's steel exports to South Korea totaled 2.7 million mt, down 3.1 percent, while steel exports to China decreased by 0.1 percent to 2 million metric tons; the export volume to Taiwan amounted to 1.4 million metric tons, up 39.4 percent; exports to Thailand totaled 1.9 million metric tons, up 24.6 percent; while exports to the US came to 806,436 metric tons, decreasing by 6.5 percent, all compared to the same period of the previous year.
 
In January-April, Japan imported 1.15 million metric tons of steel from South Korea, down 10 percent, it imported 384,077 metric tons from China, down by 18.3 percent, while imports from Taiwan came to 323,560 metric tons, decreasing by 0.9 percent, all year on year.