Japan Carbon Steel Import Drops by 13.6% in February

Japanese carbon steel import decreased by 13.6% to 340,856 tonnes in February from January, which decreased for 4 months in a row, according to Ministry of Finance. The dealers and other users tried to reduce overstock of construction material and flat rolled steel to meet slower demand for January-March. Offshore market price increased since late January but hot rolled flat steel import increased for the first time in 4 months. Japanese steel industry is still cautious about higher import under higher yen exchange rate.

The import increased by 4.9% to 130,542 tonnes for hot rolled flat steel in February from January. The import decreased by 8.3% to 29,052 tonnes for wire rod and by 19.1% to 41,383 tonnes for plate. The import decreased by 23.9% to 59,395 tonnes for cold rolled flat steel and by 26.7% to 44,324 tonnes for galvanized steel.

The import decreased by 12.7% to 227,140 tonnes from South Korea in February from January. The import decreased by 25.4% to 58,872 tonnes from Taiwan while the import increased by 1.9% to 50,205 tonnes from China.