Japanese steel export value leaps 8% in January

TOKYO (Scrap Monster): The recent trade statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) suggests marginal rise in country’s steel exports during the month of January this year. The exports during the month increased slightly when matched with those during the same month a year before. However, the exports declined in comparison with those during the prior month. The value of exports climbed higher by 8.1% to Yen 249.8 billion during the month.

According to data, the export quantity of steel products totaled 3.171 million tons (Mt) during January 2017. The exports dropped by 5.2% over the previous month. The Japanese steel exports had totaled 3.345 million tons during December last year. When compared with exports during January 2015, the Jan ’17 exports were up marginally by 0.2%. The country’s steel exports had totaled 3.165 million tons during January 2015.

The key destination of Japanese steel exports during the month was the Asian region. The exports to Asia were up marginally by nearly 4% over the previous year to 2.528 million tons, accounting for nearly 80% of the total steel exports by Japan during the month. Among Asian countries, China accounted for bulk of imports. The Chinese imports of Japanese steel have totaled 435,000 tons during the month, significantly higher by 5.8% when matched with the previous year. Also, the imports by China were up by nearly 16.4% over the previous month.

Asian Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs) imported 804,000 tons of steel products from Japan. The exports to the region recorded decline of 1.4% over the previous year. The exports to ASEAN countries surged higher by over 4.7% during the month to total 1.067 million tons.

Among exports to remote regions, the Middle East accounted for 83,000 tons of steel products import from Japan. The exports to the region dropped sharply by 48.2% over the previous year. Russia imported around 1 million tons of steel products from Japan, declining sharply by 93.5% year-on-year. The imports by the US dropped modestly by nearly 10% to 118,000 tons, whereas the imports by the EU region plunged heavily by 61% to 16,000 tons.

According to MoF data, Japan’s imports of steel products totaled 735,000 tons during Jan ‘17, rising by 3.7% when matched with the previous month and by 16.4% when matched with the same month a year before.

The key exporter of steel products to Japan during the month was the Asian region. The imports from the region totaled 615,000 tons, accounting for nearly 84% of total steel imports by Japan in Jan ’17. The exports from the Asian region surged higher by nearly 15% year-on-year during the month. Among Asian countries, China accounted for 129,000 tons, dropping sharply by 13.4% over the year. The imports from Asian NIEs were up by nearly 26% to total 449,000 tons. The ASEAN region countries exported 20,000 tons, rising significantly by 47.6%.

Among imports from remote regions, those from the EU region surged higher significantly by 9.5% to 14,000 tons. The imports from Russia too were up sharply by around 101% to 21,000 tons during January this year. The US steel exports to Japan too increased sharply by over 44% year-on-year to around 1,000 tons during the month.

The country’s steel exports had witnessed marginal decline during the entire calendar year 2016. Japan’s steel exports had totaled 40.828 million tons (Mt) during the entire year 2016. The exports dropped by 1.1% over the prior year. The value of steel exports by the country in 2016 has dropped sharply by 22.5% over the previous year to 2,843.3 billion yens. According to MoF data, Japan’s imports of steel products totaled 7.775 million tons during the entire year 2016, rising marginally by 1.2% when matched with the year before.