Japan Carbon Steel Export Rises by 13.2% in F2010

Japanese carbon steel export increased by 13.2% to 29.162 million tonnes in fiscal 2010 ended March 2011 from fiscal 2009, which increased for 2 years in a row, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Monday. The export increased due to strong demand in China and member countries of Association of Southeast Asian Nations while the export decreased to South Korea and Taiwan.

The total steel export including pig iron and ferroalloy increased by 11.9% to record 43.636 million tonnes in fiscal 2010 from former record of 39.003 million tonnes in fiscal 2009. The export value increased by 34.0% to record US$ 47.255 billion and by 24.3% to 4.059 trillion yen.

The carbon steel hot rolled wide strip export increased by 6.9% to 9.188 million tonne in fiscal 2010 from fiscal 2009. The carbon steel export increased by 29.6% to 5.581 million tonnes for galvanizing steel, by 19.0% to 4.041 million tonnes for cold rolled wide strip and by 21.8% to 949,000 tonnes for electrical steel. The carbon steel export increased by 30.5% to 966,000 tonnes for welded pipe and by 33.9% to 699,000 tonnes for seamless pipe. The carbon steel export increased by 4.2% to 887,000 tonnes for shapes and by 16.2% to 526,000 tonnes for wire rod. The carbon steel export was flat at 3.738 million tonnes for plate and decreased by 11.3% to 425,000 tonnes for bar.

The total steel export decreased by 2.1% to 10.554 million tonnes for the largest destination of South Korea in fiscal 2010 from fiscal 2009, which decreased for the first time in 2 years. The export decreased by 7.5% to 3.616 million tonnes for Taiwan, which decreased for the first time in 2 years. The export increased by 7.1% to 7.591 million tonnes for China, which increased for 2 years in a row. The export increased by 29.4% to 4.813 million tonnes for Thailand, which increased for the first time in 3 years. The export increased by 54.9% to 1.705 million tonnes for USA, which increased for the first time in 4 years.

The carbon steel export decreased by 7.0% to 2.696 million tonnes in March from a year earlier, which decreased for the first time in 2 months. The export decreased when the major earthquake stopped and reduced the major steel operations including Sumitomo Metal Industries’ Kashima works, Nippon Steel’s Kimitsu works and JFE Steel’s East Japan works. The export increased by 8.8% from February partly due to higher shipment by operations in western Japan. The export increased for hot rolled wide strip, electrical steel and seamless pipe from a year earlier level while the export decreased for galvanizing steel, cold rolled wide strip, plate, shapes, wire rod, bar and welded pipe.

See attached table.