Japan Carbon Steel Import Drops by 46.9% for Jan-Jun

Japanese carbon steel import decreased by 46.9% to 1.002 million tonnes for January-June 2009 from the same period of last year, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Thursday. Users and dealers held off th4e buying of imported steel for adjustment of their inventory. The import decreased by 13.5% for special steel decreased to 81,946 tonnes by 24.4% and 233,716 tonnes by 27.9% for secondary processed steel goods.

The import decreased to 49,277 tonnes by 59.6% for plate for January-June from the same period of last year, 388,570 tonnes by 55.1% for hot rolled sheet, 236,340 tonnes by 49.6% for cold rolled sheet and 91,684 tonnes by 47.1% for galvanized sheet.

On the other hand, the import increased by 3.6 times for sheet pile for January-June from the same period of last year, 38936 tonnes by 37.8% for H-beam and 4925 tonnes by 59.7% for other shaped steel. General contractors and dealers seem to purchase when imported products’ price was lower than domestic products.

Japanese carbon steel import increased to 171,131 tonnes by 0.2% in June from May. The import decreased to 11,812 tonnes by 11.2% for special steel while decreased to 40,363 tonnes by 17.7% for secondary processed goods.