Japanese import of carbon steel products increased by 7.9% to 367,688 tonnes in August from July, the first increase after 2 months, according to Ministry of Finance. The import mainly increased for steel sheets when steel users and dealers kept active procurement of offshore steel products along ultra-strong yen trend at 70-80 yen per US dollar. The import is likely to keep high volume for a while.
By countries, the import increased by 13.2% to 251,295 tonnes from South Korea in August from July, increased by 15% to 74,631 tonnes from Taiwan while decreased by 26% to 35,843 tonnes from China.