Japan Carbon Steel Export Drops by 1.5%

Japanese carbon steel export decreased by 1.5% to 2.336 million tonnes in January from a year earlier, which decreased for 2 months in a row, according to Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Tuesday. The export was 6.2% lower than December 2010, which was the first drop in 3 months. The export volume kept more than 2 million tonnes per month under strong demand in Asia and higher market price despite of higher yen rate.

The total steel export including pig iron and ferroalloys increased by 1.9% to 3.505 million tonnes in January from a year earlier, which was more than January record of 3.439 million tonnes in 2010. The export value increased to US$ 3.748 billion and 310.4 billion yen, both of which increased for 13 months in a row.

The carbon steel hot rolled wide strip export decreased by 2.4% to 742,000 tonnes in January from a year earlier, which decreased for 2 months in a row. The carbon steel export decreased by 9.6% to 395,000 tonnes for galvanizing steel, by 8.7% to 318,000 tonnes for plate, by 22.0% to 62,000 tonnes for welded pipe and by 19.0% to 52,000 tonnes for shapes. The export increased by 9.6% to 360,000 tonnes for cold rolled wide strip, by 12.0% to 85,000 tonnes for electrical steel and by 36.7% to 60,000 tonnes for seamless pipe.

The total steel export volume decreased by 15.2% to 804,000 tonnes to the largest destination of South Korea in January from a year earlier, which decreased for 2 months in a row. The export decreased by 2.7% to 616,000 tonnes for China, by 9.7% to 362,000 tonnes for Thailand and by 1.7% to 322,000 tonnes for Taiwan while the export increased to 2.1 times at 147,000 tonnes for USA.