Japan Iron Ore Import Increases by 17% in July

Japanese iron ore import increased by 16.8% to 8.5 million tonnes in July from June, according to Ministry of Finance. Coal import increased by 25.1% to 6.6 million tonnes. Compared with a year earlier, both iron ore and coal import decreased by 2 digits. Japanese integrated steel makers plan to increase crude steel output by about 30% for July-September from April-June and increase the purchase volume.

Iron ore import increased by 45% in July from the bottom in March. The coal import increased by 29% in July from March. Coking coal import increased by 55% in July from the bottom in June. Japanese major 5 steel makers’ crude steel output slightly increased for April-June from January-March. They plan to increase the operation rate for July-September thanks to recovery of domestic and overseas demand.

The 5 makers’ crude steel output plan decreases by about 20% for July-September from the same period of last year while increases by 34% from the bottom of January-March 2009. For January-March, iron ore import decreased by 36% and coal import downed by 9% from October-December 2008. For April-June, iron ore import decreased by 9% and coal import downed by 13% from January-March. Iron ore and coal imports are expected to increase for July-September.