Japan’s Steel Exports Plunged 6% in April This Year

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The preliminary trade statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) suggests significant decline in steel exports by the country during the month of April this year.

The monthly export quantity of steel has totaled 2.8 million tons in April 2018. This is considerably lower by 17% when compared with the month before. When matched with the same month a year before, the exports were down by 5.7%. This is the first time since July 2017 that the monthly exports by Japan have fallen short of 3 million tons. The steel exports were valued at 261.83 billion yens, marginally up by 1.1% over the previous year.

ALSO READ: JPC: India's Finished Steel Exports Soared by 17% in FY 18

Asian region was the key importer of steel from Japan. The region imported 2.293 million tons of steel from Japan, accounting for nearly 82% of the total steel exports by Japan during the month. The import volumes by the Asian region have dropped by 3.5% over the previous year. Among Asian countries, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was the main importer, accounting for 976,000 tons, followed by South Korea with 506,000 tons and China with 471,000 tons.

Among other regions, the exports to the U.S. totaled 139,000 tons. The Middle East region imported 51,000 tons of steel from Japan. The steel exports to the region dropped sharply by more than 39% year-on-year. MoF data suggests that 23,000 tons went to the EU, registering year-on-year growth of 44.5%.

On the other hand, steel imports surged higher to total 700,000 tons during the month. The imports were up sharply by 12.7% over the previous year. When compared with the prior month, the imports were up by 8.9%. The March ’18 steel imports by Japan had totaled only 643,000 tons in March this year.

Out of the total imports, 565,000 tons were imported from the Asian region. The key Asian exporter was China with 122,000 tons. Among other key steel exporters to Japan were South Korea (308,000 tons), ASEAN (29,000 tons) Russia (23,000 tons) and the E.U. (7,300 tons).