By Anil Mathews (ScrapMonster Author)

February 03, 2016 01:52:59 AM

TOKYO (Scrap Monster): According to data released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF), the country’s iron and steel export dropped marginally by 1.1% during 2015, when matched with the previous year. The country’s exports totaled 41.64 million tons during the year, which is marginally lower by 1.1% when compared with the exports of 42.10 million tons during 2014. This is the second consecutive year that the country’s iron and steel exports have declined on yearly basis.

MoF data indicates that export of ordinary steel products totaled 27.87 million tons during 2015, rising marginally by 4.2% from the previous year. Among ordinary steel products, HR coils accounted for nearly 13 million tons. The HR coil exports were up significantly by 14.6% from a year before. The exports of galvanized sheets dropped sharply by 16.3% to 3.15 million tons during 2015. Exports of CR coils too declined 4.6% year-on-year to 2.65 million tons. Heavy plate exports have jumped higher by over 10% to 3.08 million tons during 2015.

The key export destination of Japanese iron and steel products was South Korea. The exports to the country totaled 6.63 million tons during the year, down by 9.1% when matched with 2014. In second place was China with 5.36 million tons. The exports to China too dropped by 9.3% during the year. The third largest export destination o0f Japanese iron and steel products was Thailand. The exports to Thailand dropped 6% during 2015 to 5.21 million tons.

The other main export destinations were Taiwan (2.90 million tons, down 15.9%) and the USA (2.44 million tons, down 4.8%). The exports to Vietnam and India totaled 2.61 million tons and 2.49 million tons respectively.