Japan Carbon Steel Import Drops by 3.7% in April

Japanese carbon steel import decreased to 317,337 tonnes by 3.7% in April from a year earlier, according to Japan Iron and Steel Federation. The import increased by 11.8% from last month, which increased for 2 consecutive months. The import decreased by 10.7% in January-April from same period of 2007. The import decreased to 5,725 tonnes by 36.5% for H-beam, to 11,764 tonnes by 55.3% for wire rod, to 66,803 tonnes by 13.2% for cold rolled steel sheet, to 31,263 tonnes by 14.4% for zinc coated steel sheet while increased to 32,508 tonnes by 22.5% for plate, to 151,311 tonnes by 3.7% for hot rolled flat steel. Plate and hot rolled steel sheet imports increased when some dealers purchased the import products with tight domestic supply. The import decreased by 23.3% for plate in January-April, by 8.0% for hot rolled steel sheet, 8.4% for zinc coated steel sheet while increased by 1.9% for cold rolled steel sheet. The import was 196,009 tonnes from South Korean to Japan in April, 43,585 tonnes from China, and 67,563 tonnes from Taiwan.