Japan Carbon Steel Export Drops by 14% in February

Japanese export of carbon steel products decreased by 14% to 1.787 million tonnes in February from a year earlier, representing decreases for 15 months in a row, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Monday. The export increased by 12% from January, which was first increase in 2 months. The export decreased for hot rolled wide strip, galvanizing steel and cold rolled wide strip in February from a year earlier and the export of welded pipe and tube decreased for the first time in 3 months. The plate export increased by 3.8%, representing increases for 2 months in a row. Japanese iron and steel export decreased by 0.6% to 640,000 tonnes for South Korea in February from a year earlier, representing decreases for 14 months in a row. The export to China decreased by 0.4% to 470,000 tonnes, which represented decreases for 6 months in a row. The export decreased for Thailand for 4 months in a row and for Taiwan for 2 months in a row. The export to USA increased by 46% to 160,000 tonnes, representing increases for 3 months in a row. Japanese export of carbon steel products decreased by 12% to 850,000 tonnes for South Korea in January-February from same period of 2005. The export decreased by 52% to 110,000 tonnes for Taiwan and by 15% to 560,000 tonnes for China. See attached table.