In April this year, Japan’s cold rolled sheet and strip shipments moved down by 17.3 percent compared to the previous month and by 4.3 percent on year-on-year basis, amounting to 346,554 metric tons. 54.6 percent of shipments were made to the domestic market, while the remaining 45.4 percent were made to the export markets, according to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) data.
Meanwhile, in the given month, Japan’s CR sheet and strip inventories went up by 7.6 percent compared to the previous month, totaling 666,516 metric tons, and were down by 1.8 percent year on year. 74.8 percent of inventories were held by steel manufacturers, while 25.2 percent were held by steel traders.
In April, Japan’s CR sheet and strip production amounted to 393,691 mt, down by 6.5 percent month on month and up 10.6 percent year on year.