According to Japan's Ministry of Finance, in June this year Japan exported 3.478 million mt of steel products, down 9.2 percent year on year and up 4.9 percent month on month. The total export value of these steel products came to JPY 323.42 billion ($4.15 billion), down six percent year on year.
In addition, in June Japan imported 703,000 mt of steel products, an increase of four percent year on year and down 9.4 percent month on month. This is the first time in the past few months that Japan's steel imports registered a month-on-month decrease.
In June, steel shipments from Japan to Asian countries totaled 2.814 million mt, decreasing by 13.1 percent year on year, while steel imports from China to Japan reached 170,000 mt, rising by 2.9 percent compared to June 2010. In the past four months, steel imports from China to Japan have continued to increase.