Japan Wire Rod Import Price Drops from Korea and China

Japanese average import price of wire rod was below 100,000 yen per tonne from South Korea and below 50,000 yen per tonne from China in January, according to Ministry of Finance. The import price from China kept lowering for 5 consecutive months.

Japanese wire rod import volume decreased by 24% to 9,600 tonnes from China in January from previous month, while increased by 525 to 9,400 tonnes from South Korea. The import from Taiwan was 180 tonnes. Import arrivals from China were 1,300 tonnes around Tokyo, 7,200 tonnes around Osaka and 1,000 tonnes around Kyusyu in January. Averaged import price from China lowered by 16,000 yen to 47,500 yen per tonne in January from December.

Averaged import price from South Korea was 85,900 yen per tonne in January, down by 17,000 yen from December. The import price from South Korea stayed at 90,000-100,000 yen after June 2008 and temporarily reached 100,000 yen in December 2008. Import arrivals from South Korea were 2,100 tonnes around Tokyo, 6,400 tonnes around Osaka and 780 tonnes around Kyusyu in January. Averaged price was different among regions in a range from 70,000 yen to over 90,000 yen.

The import volume was totally high around Osaka in January.