Japan Carbon Steel Import Rises by 8.2% in June

Japanese carbon steel import has kept increasing. The import increased by 8.2% to 422,984 tonnes in June from May, which increased for 4 months in a row and hit highest monthly volume in 2011, according to Ministry of Finance. The import hit more than 400,000 tonnes for the first time since 434,000 tonnes in April 2005.

Japanese steel users try to increase cheaper import as a part of global procurement effort when Japanese steel makers try to increase the steel selling price to pass higher raw materials cost. Higher yen rate also lifted the import. The import increased by 18.8% to 1.798 million tonnes in January-June from same period of 2010.

The import increased by 3.9% to 11,273 tonnes for H-beam in June from May. The import increased by 1.8% to 31,992 tonnes for wire rod, by 23.6% to 49,326 tonnes for plate and by 4.4% to 164,723 tonnes for hot rolled flat steel. The import volume hit highest monthly volume except for wire rod.

The import decreased by 0.7% to 232,469 tonnes from the largest supply country of South Korea in June form May. The import increased by 6.5% to 112,529 tonnes from China while the import decreased by 1.9% to 72,650 tonnes.