Japan Carbon Steel Export Rises by 13.8% in February

Japanese carbon steel export decreased by 13.8% to 2.136 million tonnes in February from a year earlier, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Monday. The export was slow under lower Asian market price when the export decreased for 15 months in a row for South Korea. The total export increased by 9.7% from January, which increased for the first time in 2 months. The export would increase gradually since late February.

The total steel export of Japan decreased by 13.2% to 3.225 million tonnes in February from a year earlier. The export value decreased by 6.0% to US$ 3.871 billion and by 11.9% to 298.6 billion yen.

The carbon steel export decreased by 3.9% to 782,000 tonnes for hot rolled wide strip in February from a year earlier. The export decreased by 12.8% to 362,000 tonnes for galvanizing steel and by 17.7% to 269,000 tonne for cold rolled wide strip. The export decreased by 22.6% to 257,000 tonnes for plate, by 6.7% to 72,000 tonnes for electrical steel, by 26.4% to 69,000 tonne for shapes and by 6.3% to 61,000 tonnes for seamless pipe. The export increased from January for cold rolled wide strip, galvanizing steel, seamless pipe, hot rolled wide strip and electrical steel.

The total steel export decreased by 14.4% to 664,000 tonnes for South Korea for February from a year earlier. The export decreased by 14.8% to 524,000 tonnes for China, by 7.4% to 353,000 tonnes for Thailand and by 21.7% to 247,000 tonnes for Taiwan. The export to USA increased by 92.0% to 240,000 tonnes due to strong demand for automobile and easting import restriction.