Japan Steel Products Import Stays Y/Y Half Level in May

Japanese import of common steel products decreased by 51.9% to 170,816 tonnes in May from a year earlier, announced Japan Iron & Steel Federation on Monday. The import decreased by 0.5% compared with the previous month, which showed month-to-month minus for the first time in late 3 months. The import of special steel products decreased by 15.4% to 13,295 tonnes in May from a year ago while secondary steel products dropped by 42.1% to 34,296 tonnes.

Among common steel products, H-beam import increased by 16.3% to 4,278 tonnes in May from a year earlier but other major items continued to represent wide year-to-year decline. Plate decreased by 63.9% to 11,758 tonnes, hot rolled sheet decreased by 53.9% to 69,884 tonnes, cold rolled sheet decreased by 52.6% to 39,917 tonnes and zinc coated sheet decreased by 39.9% to 16,606 tonnes.

According to the trading countries, the import decreased by 39.2% to 113,194 tonnes from South Korea, by 84.9% to 14,434 tonnes from China and by 44.7% to 35,697 tonnes from Taiwan in May from a year earlier. Especially, hot rolled sheet import from China was only 1 tonne in May, when Japanese wholesalers and sheet users actually skipped the procurement.