Japan Ordinary Steels Import Increases to 340,000t in January

Japanese import of ordinary steel products increased by 7.6% to 340,000 tonnes in January 2006 from December 2005 due to the increasing import of steel sheet and H-beam. The import from South Korea was 212,000 tonnes mainly including cold-rolled coil and that from Taiwan was 69,000 tonnes mainly including hot-rolled coil.The import of steel sheet maintains high in volume. Japan imported 69,000 tonnes of hot-rolled coil from South Korea, 52,000 tonnes from Taiwan and 13,000 tonnes from China in January. The total import of hot-rolled steel sheet increased by 17% to 136,000 tonnes in January from the previous month.The total import of cold-rolled steel sheet increased by 6.5% to 77,000 tonnes in January from December, increasing for 2 consecutive months. Japan imported 67,000 tonnes of cold-rolled steel sheet from South Korea and 10,000 tonnes from Taiwan. The import of zinc coated steel sheet increased by 37% in January from December. Both electro and hot dip galvanized steel sheets exceeded the import volume in December 2005.On the other hand, steel plate import decreased to 21,000 tonnes in January from the previous month. The half of the import was from China. H-beam import also decreased to 21,000 tonnes in January from the previous month, 18,000 tonnes of which was from South Korea. Wire rod import decreased to 23,000 tonnes in January from December, imported mainly from China.The import of all ordinary steel products decreased by 2.8% in January from a year ago. It decreased slightly when the import of hot-rolled steel coil, H-beam and hot dip galvanized steel sheet increased in January from a year ago. Total import of steel products, including special steel and secondary products, increased by 8.7% to 600,000 tonnes in January from December, which decreased by 25% from a year ago due to the sharp decrease of pig iron and ferroalloy.