Japan’s steel imports increase by 2.5 percent in April over March

According to the customs statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance, Japan's steel exports in April this year amounted to 3.4 million metric tons, decreasing by 16.5 percent month on month, while Japan's steel imports hit 683,446 metric tons, with a month-on-month increase of 2.5 percent.
 
Regarding Japan's major steel export markets, in April the country's steel exports to South Korea totaled 836,784 mt, down 13.5 percent; exports to China declined by 17.9 percent to 571,488 metric tons; the export volume to Taiwan amounted to 296,890 metric tons, down 10.7 percent; exports to Thailand totaled 419,379 metric tons, climbing by 0.3 percent; while exports to the US came to 179,685 metric tons, decreasing by 27.2 percent, all compared to the previous month.
 
In April this year, Japan imported 255,693 metric tons of steel from South Korea, down 1.6 percent, it imported 152,635 metric tons from China, climbing by 27.3 percent, while imports from Taiwan came to 96,681 metric tons, improving by 21.9 percent over March 2011.