Japan Carbon Steel Export Increases by Y/Y 22% in November

Japanese carbon steel export increased by 21.9% to 2.191 million tonnes in November 2009 from a year earlier, announced by Japan Iron & Steel Federation on Tuesday. The export represented year-to-year plus for 2 months in a row. Compared with the previous month, the export decreased by 5.3%. This is the first decrease in 6 months with a factor that Japanese exporters reduced new contracts around September due to low market price in China.

Japanese special steel export increased by 36.1% to 493,000 tonnes in November from a year earlier. The secondary processed steel export increased by 3.9% to 53,000 tonnes.

The total steel export increased by 34.1% to 3.266 million tonnes including pig iron and ferroalloy in November from a year earlier, which represented year-to-year plus for 4 consecutive months. By month-to-month comparison, the export decreased by 4.9%, down for 2 months in a row.

Among carbon steels and by month-to-month comparison, the export increased by 55.9% to 87,000 tonnes for seamless steel tube, by 60.1% to 41,000 tonnes for wire rod, by 22.1% to 18,000 tonnes for sheet pile and by 8.9% to 44,000 tonnes for steel bar.

On the other hand, the export decreased by 14% to 302,000 tonnes for plate, by 10.7% to 728,000 tonnes for hot strip, by 1.9% to 289,000 tonnes for cold strip and by 2.1% to 388,000 tonnes for zinc coated sheet.

By countries, the total steel export increased by 72.6% to 859,000 tonnes to South Korea in November from a year earlier, year-to-year plus for 6 straight months. The export increased by 58.5% to 326,000 tonnes to Taiwan, year-to-year plus for 4 straight months. The export increased by 16.1% to 543,000 tonnes to China, the first year-to-year plus in 2 months. The export increased byt 22.4% to 436,000 tonnes to Thailand, the first year-to-year plus in 13 months. Meanwhile, the export decreased by 9.1% to 87,000 tonnes to USA, which represented year-to-year minus for 10 straight months.