Japan Iron Ore and Coking Coal Import Value Jumps by 539B yen in F2005

Japanese iron ore import value increased by 55.4% to 686 billion yen including freight in fiscal 2005 ended March 2006 from fiscal 2004, according to Ministry of Finance. The hard coking coal import value increased by 59.6% to 442.7 billion yen. The total coking coal import value including semi-coking coal increased by 293.9 billion yen. The total cost increased by 538.5 billion yen for iron ore and coking coal. The averaged import unit value of coke increased by 21.7% to CIF 23,662 yen per tonne in March from a year earlier, which was first increase in 5 months. The averaged import unit value of coke decreased by 23.6% to 25,085 yen in fiscal 2005 from fiscal 2004. The unit value surged by 60.9% for iron ore and by 61.2% for hard coking coal in fiscal 2005. Japanese annual contract price increased by 71.5% for iron ore and by 120% for hard coking coal at FOB base in fiscal 2005 from fiscal 2004. The statistics figure, which reflects value including freight along with spot import, carried over shipment and foreign exchange rate change, was different from annual contract price.