Japan Steel Export Rises by 8% in 2006

Japanese steel export increased by 8% to 34.861 million tonnes in 2006 from 2005, announced by Ministry of Finance on Thursday. The export value increased by 14.8% to 3.486 trillion yen while the import decreased both in volume and value. The export volume increased by 40.7% to USA, by 2.9% to European Union and by 4.3% to Asia in 2006 from 2050. The export to China increased by 7.2%. The export value increased by 31.7% to USA, by 33.5% to EU and by 8.8% to Asia. The export value to China increased by 11.9%.The import volume decreased by 36.5% from USA, by 14.6% from EU and by 6.8% from Asia in 2006 from 2005. The import decreased by 10.5% from China while the import from Russia jumped by 226.8%. The import value increased by 2% from USA and by 8.7% from EU while the value decreased by 5.9% from Asia and by 0.2% from China. The value increased by 114.2% from Middle East and by 33.5% from Russia.