Japanese Steel Export Levels Off, Import Slows Down in April

Japanese steel export totaled 3.057 million tonnes in April, which decreased 9.5% in year-to-year basis and 20.7% month-to-month, according to the trade statistics announced by Ministry of Finance on Wednesday. The export topped 3 million tonnes for 3 months in a row while the volume leveled off due to slowdown of yen diminishment and stoppage of steel market price improvement. Regional steel supply is structurally surplus including China, South Korea and Taiwan. The export business circumstance maintains severe for Japanese steel makers.

The export to Asia decreased by 11.7% to 2.469 million tonnes in April from a year earlier. The export decreased by 14.9% to 480,000 tonnes to China, by 23.2% to 961,000 tonnes to NIEs and by 7.8% to 883,000 tonnes to ASEAN. The export to the USA increased by 9.4% to 189,000 tonnes thanks to the revoking of antidumping duty for some steel products. The export unit price was FOB 90,110 yen per tonne, which almost leveled off from a year earlier.

Japanese steel import was 610,621 tonnes in April, decreasing by 6.7% from a year earlier. The import volume kept high while the increasing trend slowed down when steel inventories were in adjustment phase in Japan. Japanese steel industry is cautiously watching the import since yen exchange rate stays at around 80 yen per US dollar.

The import from Asia decreased by 6.5% to 503,599 tonnes in April from a year earlier. The import from China decreased by 25.9% to 99,987 tonnes. The import from NIEs increased by 10.3% to 376,742 tonnes. The import from ASEAN dropped by 45.2% to 8,064 tonnes. The import unit price was 111,260 yen per tonne, 4.8% surging from the previous month.