Japan Carbon Steel Import Drops for 3 Straight Months to September

Japanese carbon steel import decreased by 13.1% to 266,442 tonnes in September from August, which decreased for 3 months in a row and represented less than 300,000 tonnes for the first time in 6 months, announced by Japan Iron & Steel Federation on Thursday. Japanese users significantly reduced the import from China when Chinese government reduced tax return for steel export in July while the users’ inventory increased mainly for sheet steel. However, plate and galvanized sheet import increased in September. Japanese steel interests cautiously watch the import situation when some users in shipbuilding and automobile industry try to use more import steel under the extremely high yen rate.

The import of special steel decreased by 12.0% to 23,058 tonnes in September from August. The import of processed steel products increased by 4.5% to 54,809 tonnes.

The carbon steel plate import increased to 2.2 times at 22,887 tonnes in September from August. The galvanized steel import increased by 13.1% to 34,339 tonnes while the hot rolled sheets import decreased by 25.2% to 104,207 tonnes.

The carbon steel import from South Korea decreased by 3.3% to 189,657 tonnes in September from August. The import decreased by 53.9% to 20,218 tonnes from China and by 20.4% to 49,390 tonnes from Taiwan.