Japan's Steel Plate and Sheet Pile Exports Experienced Notable Surge

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Japanese steel plate exports recorded an increase of 27.9% during the month of May this year, says the trade statistics published by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The plate exports totaled 0.221 million tonnes (Mt). The huge month-on-month surge in exports was mainly due to significant rise in export volumes to destinations including South Korea, China and Thailand. The exports to South Korea were up sharply by 43% over the previous month to total 79,900 tonnes. The exports to China totaled around 89,000 tonnes, rising by one-third. Meantime, the plate shipments to Thailand increased 3.24 times to total nearly 8,000 tonnes in May ’19.

On the contrary, the plate exports to Taiwan registered notable month-on-month decline by 35% to approximately 6,000 tonnes.

Japan’s imports of steel plates registered marginal decline by almost 14% over the month to total 38,700 tonnes. The primary suppliers during the month were South Korea and China, MoF data said.

Meantime, Japan’s exports of sheet pile for the month rose 36% over the prior month to 19,600 tonnes. The export prices averaged at 72,000 yen per tonne FOB. The exports through May totaled 62,000 tonnes, down significantly by 43% when matched with the corresponding five-month period in 2018. The primary destinations included China (12,000 tonnes), Taiwan (3,400 tonnes) and Hong Kong (1,000 tonnes).

The sheet pile imports by Japan skyrocketed by nearly 79% month-on-month to almost 3,600 tonnes. The cumulative imports totaled around 22,000 tonnes until May this year.