Japan Carbon Steel Import Increases by 21.2% in April

Japanese carbon steel import increased by 21.2% to 316,554 tonnes in April from March, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Monday. The import increased for 2 months in a row. Domestic steel dealers seem to have contracted imported products cheaper than domestic products around February because Japanese integrated steel makers were likely to raise the selling price in April. The import from China expanded by 81.5% especially.

Special steel import increased by 3.2% to 23,728 tonnes in April from March. Secondary processed steel products import increased by 11.3% to 55,256 tonnes. Both imports increased for 2 months in a row.

Among carbon steel products, H-beam expanded by 13 times to 8,094 tonnes. Wire rod increased by 34.4% to 28,548 tonnes and plate increased by 57.5% to 17,998 tonnes. Hot rolled sheet increased by 28.6% to 146,161 tonnes and cold rolled sheet increased by 9.7% to 62,919 tonnes. Meanwhile, steel bar decreased by 42.9% to 1,596 tonnes and zinc coated sheet decreased by 14.2% to 31,163 tonnes.

The import increased by 6.3% to 191,460 tonnes from South Korea, by 81.5% to 53,881 tonnes from China and by 32.4% to 63,463 tonnes from Taiwan. The import from New Zeeland expanded by 20 times to 4,236 tonnes mainly for hot rolled sheet. Among the import from China, H-beam was 2,234 tonnes and hot rolled sheet was 23,752 tonnes, both of which jumped by more than 4 times.