Japanese stainless steel imports drop in November

TOKYO (Scrap Monster): According to latest data released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF), the country’s stainless steel imports declined considerably during the month of November last year.

Japan’s total stainless steel product imports during Nov ‘15 totaled 13,647 tons, down by 24.9% from the imports during the month before. The monthly imports of stainless steel products by the country had totaled 18,170 tons during October last year.

The largest exporter of stainless steel products to Japan was South Korea. The imports from South Korea totaled 9,701 tons. The imports from South Korea to Japan dropped considerably by 19.8% when compared with the exports during the month before. When compared with the previous year, the exports declined by 6%.

In second place was Taiwan with total Japanese imports of 2,111 tons. The stainless steel imports from Taiwan plunged by 48.3% over the previous month. However, the imports climbed higher by nearly 17% over the previous year. The stainless steel imports from China witnessed sharp decline of nearly 42% month-on-month to total 708 tons.