Japan Iron Ore Import Drops by 43.7% in April

Japanese iron ore import decreased by 43.7% to 6.452 million tonnes in April from a year earlier, according to Ministry of Finance. The coking coal import also decreased by 26.3% to 5.203 million tonnes when Japanese major integrated steel makers are in major production cut. The import volume increased by 10.1% for iron ore and by 1.9% for coking coal from March level.

The averaged import unit price increased by 35.8% to CIF 9,780 yen per tonne in April from a year earlier. The coking coal unit price increased by 80.9% to 23,397 yen per tonne. The price apparently reflected higher annual contract price for fiscal 2008 ended March 2009.

The iron ore import volume decreased by 36.7% to 29.094 million tonnes in January-April from same period of 2008. The coking coal import decreased by 17.4% to 23.136 million tonnes. The coke import decreased by 84.4% to 73,000 tonnes during the period.