Japan Steel Export Rises by 12% in F2006

Japanese steel export increased by 12.1% to 35.59 million tonnes in fiscal 2006 ended March 2007 from fiscal 2005, announced by Ministry of Finance on Wednesday. The export value increased by 16.6% to 3.647 trillion yen. The steel import volume increased by 11.4% to 8.444 million tonnes and the value increased by 9.5% to 830.947 billion yen. The export increased for major 5 areas including USA, European Union (EU), Asia, Middle East and Russia in fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005. The export value also increased for the 5 areas. The import increased from Asia, Middle East and Russia while the import decreased from USA and EU. The import value increased except from USA. The steel export increased by 3.7% to 3.182 million tonnes in March from a year earlier. The value increased by 8.6% to 362.36 billion yen. The import volume increased by 33.1% to 673,194 tonnes and the value increased by 48.2% to 73.833 billion yen.Japanese total export increased by 13.4% to 77.461 trillion yen in fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005 while the import increased by 13% to 68.407 trillion yen. The export and import increased for 5 years in a row. The net export increased by 16.4% to 9.054 trillion yen, which increased for the first time in 2 years.