Japan Carbon Steel Export Rises by 10.1% in April

Japanese carbon steel export increased by 10.1% to 2.104 million tonnes in April from a year earlier, which represents increases for 5 months in a row, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Monday. The export increased by 7.8% to 479,000 tonnes for special steel products, by 3.2% to 411,000 tonnes for semi-finished steel products and by 9.5% to 65,000 tonnes for processed steel products.The total steel export including pig iron and ferroalloy increased by 8.6% to 3.091 million tonnes in April from a year earlier, which increased for 5 months in a row and second largest volume as April after 3.158 million tonnes in 1978. The total steel export value was US$ 3.473 billion or 349.8 billion yen, which increased for 23 months in a row in dollar base and 53 months in a row in yen base. The total steel export decreased by 20.6% in volume from previous month, which was the first drop in 3 months. The export increased by 3.1% to 530,000 tonnes for carbon steel hot rolled wide strip in April from a year earlier. The carbon steel export increased by 11.6% to 470,000 tonnes for galvanizing steel, by 7.2 % to 266,000 tonnes for cold rolled wide strip and by 2.5% to 255,000 tonnes for plate. The carbon steel export increased by 45.1% to 98,000 tonnes for shapes, to around 2.1 times at 81,000 tonnes for bar and by 31.6% to 68,000 tonnes for seamless pipe. The carbon steel welded pipe export decreased by 18.1% to 88,000 tonnes.