Japan Carbon Steel Import Rises by 10.9% in July

Japanese carbon steel import increased by 10.9% to 296,000 tonnes in July from a year earlier, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Thursday. The import increased by 43% for plate and by 16% for sheet items. The import increased by 2.293 million tonnes in January-July from same period of 2006 and could reach 4 million tonnes for full year for the first time in 2 years.The plate import increased by 7.8% in January-July from same period of 2006. Especially, the medium sized plate import increased to 5.3 times of same period of 2006 and represented more than double of full year 2006. The flat steel import including sheet items increased by 14.8% to 1.994 million tonnes in the seven months.The long products import decreased by 24% both for wire rod and H-beam in January-July from same period of 2006. The total long products import decreased by 25% to 240,000 tonnes. The pig iron import increased by 95% in January-July from same period of 2006. The steel ingot and semi-finished products import increased to 2.6 times. The higher import indicates tight steel supply in Japan.