Japan Steel Export Drops by 4.3% in April

Japanese steel export decreased by 4.3% to 2.563 million tonnes in April from a year earlier, announced by Ministry of Finance on Thursday. The export value increased by 1.2% to 247.104 billion yen. The steel import decreased by 27.3% to 630,171 tonnes and the value decreased by 22.7% to 62.314 billion yen. The export decreased in April from a year earlier for all areas other than USA and Middle East, for which the export increased by 17.5% and 91.5% respectively. The export to Asia decreased by 10.9% and the export to China decreased by 6.4%. The export value increased by 14.1% for USA, by 25% for European Union and by 122.8% for Middle East. The value decreased by 9.4% for Asia and by 3% for China. The import decreased in April from a year earlier except from Russia, from which the import increased by 372.5%. The import decreased by 74.6% from USA, by 35.8% from Asia and by 55.5% from China. The import value increased by 4.9% from EU and by 45.7% from Russia while the value decreased by 34.6% from Asia and by 41.4% from China.Japanese total export value increased by 11.2% to 6.121 trillion yen in April from a year earlier. The total import increased by 20.2% to 5.475 trillion yen. The net export value decreased by 31.8% to 646.2 billion yen. The export increased for 29 months in a row and the import increased for 26 months in a row. The net export value decreased for 16 months in a row.