Japanese stainless steel product imports drop in February

TOKYO (Scrap Monster): According to latest data released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF), the country’s stainless steel product imports declined sharply during the month of February this year over the previous month.

Japan’s total stainless steel product imports during the month totaled 12,030 tons, down 14% from the imports during the previous month. The country’s stainless steel products import during January this year had totaled 13,988 tons. The total value of imports dropped from $42.682 million CIF to $39.242 million.

The largest export source of imports of stainless steel products by Japan was South Korea. The imports from South Korea totaled 9,283 tons. The imports from South Korea to Japan declined by 4.64% when compared with the imports during Jan ’15. In second place was China with 1,019 tons. The stainless steel imports from China fell sharply by 11.5% month-on-month. The stainless steel imports from Taiwan witnessed the biggest drop, tumbling by 67.3% from the previous month. The imports from Taiwan totaled 670 tons in February.

The MoF data also indicates that the country’s stainless steel import prices averaged at $3,262.01 per ton during the month. The average prices rose by 6.9% over the month.

The monthly import of special steel products other than stainless steel products totaled 54,083 tons, which is down 34% when compared with the prior month. The overall special steel products import totaled 66,113 tons, down 31% when matched with the previous month.