Japanese steel imports and exports slowed down during July '14, says MoF data

TOKYO (Scrap Monster): The latest statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) suggests significant drop in the country’s steel exports and imports during the month of July this year.

According to MoF data, the country’s export of steel products totaled 3,299 thousand tons during the month, 8.8% down when compared with the previous month. The exports were also down by 8.6% from the same month last year. The export value too saw decline of 4.2% year-on-year.

The exports to China totaled 469 thousand tons, down 6.5% over the year. The exports to newly industrialized economies comprising of Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan totaled 976 thousand tons, down 13.3% year-on-year. The steel products export to ASEAN countries during the month were down 13.4% over the year to 964 thousand tons. The exports to the Middle East and the US were down 12.4% and 9.3% respectively.

The Japanese steel products import totaled 748 thousand tons during July this year. This is 2.5% lower than the imports during the previous month. However, on year-on-year basis, the July ’14 imports were marginally higher by 2.5%.

The steel import from China almost doubled over the year. The imports from China totaled 173 thousand tons in July ‘14, up 96.7% when compared with July ’13. However, the imports dropped over the previous month. The imports from newly industrialized economies grew 9.7% year-on-year. The steel product imports from ASEAN countries were up nearly 60%.