Japan Stainless Steel Import Increases by 13.5% in June

Japanese stainless steel import increased by 13.5% to 18,450 tonnes in June from May, according to Japan Stainless Steel Association. Flat rolled stainless steel import increased by 16.6% to 15,493 tonnes. Hot rolled stainless steel sheets import significantly increased.

The import increased by 30.3% to 7,588 tonnes for hot rolled stainless steel sheets in June from May and increased by 5.8% to 7,903 tonnes for cold rolled sheets. Flat stainless steel import from South Korea increased by 23.0% to 13,412 tonnes. Total import including long products increased by 20.9% to 14,761 tonnes from South Korea.

One Japanese stainless steel maker source sees cold rolled stainless steel sheets import would be around monthly 7,000 tonnes in and after July when the import represented 7,000 tonnes level for 3 months in a row through June. The source is concerned that hot rolled stainless steel sheets import from South Korea significantly increased in June from May and the import increased by 4.5 times to 1,947 tonnes for hot rolled sheet with 3 millimeters or more thick.

Flat rolled stainless steel import increased by 14.8% to 1,019 tonnes from Taiwan in June from May.

Japanese stainless steel export increased by 4.2% to 105,976 tonnes in June from May, which increased for the first time in 3 months. Flat rolled stainless steel export increased by 6.1% to 78,564 tonnes. However, the export, which represented 70,000 tonnes level for 3 months in a row, was around 30% lower than the peak level. The export would stay low due to high yen exchange rate.

The export decreased by 2.5% to 36,184 tonnes for hot rolled stainless steel sheets in June from May while the export increased by 14.8% to 42,379 tonnes for cold rolled sheets. The export increased by 8.9% to 10,920 tonnes for bars and shapes while the export decreased by 6.3% to 16,492 tonnes for tubes.