According to the statistics released by Taiwan's Ministry of Finance in January this year, Taiwan's export value of iron and steel and articles made from iron and steel increased by 4.3 percent compared to the same month of 2012 and was up 10.7 percent month on month, amounting to $1.55 billion. The value of these exports constituted six percent of the total value of Taiwanese exports in January.
Meanwhile, in January Taiwan's import value for the products in question increased by 18.5 percent compared to January 2012 and was up 19.4 percent month on month to $1.13 billion.