Japan Steel Export Hits Record in 2008

Japanese steel export increased by 4.6% to record 38.169 million tonnes in 2008 from 2007, announced by Ministry of Finance on Thursday. The export value increased by 13.1% to record 4.573 trillion yen. The export volume increased for European Union and Asian countries while the volume deceased to USA. The export value increased for all destinations except for Middle East. The steel import volume deceased except from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) while the import value increased from Asian countries.

The export volume and value was the highest level in 2008, which represents record for 2 years in a row, since the start of the statistics in 1979. The export started to decrease since September due to worldwide slower economy but the export was extremely high before August.

The export volume increased by 21.8% to EU and by 5.6% to Asia in 2008 from 2007 while the volume decreased by 1.7% to USA. The export to China increased by 6.8%. The export value increased by 8.8% to EU and by 15.9% to Asia. The export value to China increased by 12.6%.

The import volume decreased by 8.4% from USA, by 9.5% from EU and by 6.4% from Asia in 2008 from 2007. The import volume from China decreased by 6.5%.