Japan Steel Sheet Import in Decrease Trend in Jan-Aug

Japanese steel sheet import increased by 29.5% to 274,202 tonnes in August from July, according to Ministry of Finance. The import increased by 15% for hot-rolled sheet, by 59.7% for cold-rolled sheet and by 26.5% for galvanized sheet. On the other hand, the import decreased by 7.8% for hot-rolled sheet through January-August 2006 from the same period of 2005, decreased by 32.9% for cold-rolled sheet and increased by 2% for galvanized sheet. Market source said Japanese steel sheet import seemed in the decreasing trend totally while concerned about the increase of galvanized sheet.The import of hot-rolled steel sheet was 140,965 tonnes in August, cold-rolled sheet 98,508 tonnes and galvanized sheet 34,729 tonnes. The import increased by 33.8% to 170,498 tonnes from South Korea, decreased by 48.5% to 7,821 tonnes from China and increased by 38.2% to 93,275 tonnes from Taiwan.