Japan Steel Import Keeps High Level in September

Japan carbon steel import decreased by 15.2% to 311,738 tonnes in September from August, according to Ministry of Finance. The import kept high level at above 300,000 tones per month despite of month-to-month minus. The accumulative import increased by 16.5% for January-September 2011 from the same period of 2010. Domestic users seem to increase adoption of overseas products to reduce material costs when yen exchange rate renewed the record high.

By items, the import decreased by 26.9% to 113,978 tonnes for hot rolled steel sheet in September from the previous month, decreased by 4.8% to 73,523 tonnes for cold rolled steel sheet, decreased by 17.5% to 41,779 tonnes for zinc coated steel sheet and decreased by 6.8% to 14,190 tonnes for wire rod.

On the other hand, the import increased by 17.8% to 34,171 tonnes for plate, increased by 3.7% to 4,593 tonnes for magnetic sheet, increased by 16.9% to 1,596 tonnes for tin plate and increased by 74.6% to 1,376 tonnes for tin-free plate. It seems that the import of high-functional products is gradually increasing from South Korea and Taiwan.

By countries, the import decreased by 12.4% to 220,028 tonnes from South Korea, decreased by 35.0% to 48,471 tonnes from Taiwan, while increased by 3.6% to 37,135 tonnes from China.