Japan Carbon Steel Import 19% Y/Y Lower in October

Japanese carbon steel import decreased by 19% to 269,394 tonnes in October from a year earlier, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Friday. Compared with the previous month, the import increased by 16.6% and represented month-to-month increase for 2 months in a row. The import exceeded 200,000 tonnes for 4 consecutive months. Steel makers are concerned about export expansion when yen exchange rate is rising rapidly.

The import increased by 18.8% to 119,375 tonnes for hot rolled sheet in October from September, by 27.9% to 67,029 tonnes for cold rolled sheet and by 29.6% to 33,032 tonnes for galvanizing steel sheet, while decreased by 54.4% to 6,090 tonnes for plate. The import expanded by 10 times to to 2,418 tonnes for sheet pile, by 3.8 times to 2,580 tonnes for steel bar, while decreased by 27% to 4,908 tonnes for H-beam and by 4.8% to 14,104 tonnes for wire rod.

Japanese special steel import decreased by 3.4% to 19,008 tonnes in October from a year earlier. Secondary processed steel import decreased by 2.9% to 47,214 tonnes.

By countries, steel import decreased by 11.6% to 189,821 tonnes from South Korea in October from a year earlier, by 56.9% to 24,525 tonnes from China and by 0.5% to 52,394 tonnes from Taiwan.