Japan Steel Export Rises by 9.5% in January

Japanese steel export increased by 9.5% to 3.025 million tonnes in January from a year earlier, announced by Ministry of Finance on Thursday. The export value increased by 8% to 311.619 billion yen. The import decreased by 32.5% to 601,533 tonnes and by 12.5% to 76.715 billion yen. The export increased in volume and value while the import dropped by more than 10% in volume and value. The export volume increased by 78.4% for European Union and by 11.7% for Asia in January from a year earlier while the export to USA decreased by 24.7%. The export to China increased by 2.3% while the export to Russia increased to 7 times. The export value increased by 53.9% for EU and by 9.7% for Asia while the export value to USA decreased by 13%. The value export to China increased by 3.3% while the export value to Russia increased to more than 5 times. The import volume decreased by 53.3% from USA, by 8.5% from EU and by 30.3% from Asia in January from a year earlier. The import from China decreased by 30.2%. The import value decreased by 0.7% from USA, by 16.5% from EU and by 17.6% from Asia. The value from China increased by 8.1%.