Japan H-beam Export Drops by 90% in December

Japanese H-beam export decreased by 90% to 5,120 tonnes in December 2008 from a year earlier under the global economy downturn and the appreciating rate of yen, according to Ministry of Finance. The beam export would remain at lower level for a while when Japanese exporters are getting very small volume of export orders.

The exported tonnage was 2,051 tonnes for Vietnam and each 1,078 tonnes for South Korea and Indonesia in December.

Japanese beam import in December increased by 80% to 7,939 tonnes from a year earlier. The import would continue to increase when overseas beam price is lower than the domestic due to the higher yen rate while makers in South Korea try to increase the shipment to Japan.

The beam import unit value was CIF 84,000 yen per tonne in December while domestic market price was 90,000-100,000 yen per tonne in December, though the imported is only used for civil work and construction material leasing.

Japanese beam export in 2008 was 316,353 tonnes and the unit value was around CIF 95,000 yen per tonne. The export was 164,345 tonnes to South Korea, 35,090 tonnes to Singapore and 25,709 tonnes to United Arab Emirates.

Japanese beam import was 74,354 tonnes in 2008, of which unit value was around CIF 92,000 yen per tonne. The import was 60,422 tonnes from China and was 4,760 tonnes from South Korea.