MoF: Japan's steel exports declined 3.2% in November, imports surged

By Anil Mathews

According to data, the export quantity of steel products totaled 3.228 million tons (Mt) during November 2016.

TOKYO (Scrap Monster): The recent trade statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) suggests marginal decline in country’s steel exports during the month of November this year. The exports during the month witnessed decline when matched with those during the previous month. However, the exports were up marginally in comparison with those during the same month a year before. The value of exports was down by 12% to Yen 227.2 billion during the month.

According to data, the export quantity of steel products totaled 3.228 million tons (Mt) during November 2016. The exports dropped by 3.2% over the previous month. The Japanese steel exports had totaled 3.335 million tons during October this year. When compared with exports during November last year, the Nov ’16 exports were up marginally by 0.6%. The country’s steel exports had totaled 3.209 million tons during Nov ’15.

The key destination of Japanese steel exports during the month was the Asian region. The exports to Asia were up marginally by 1.0% over the previous year to 2.454 million tons, accounting for more than three-fourths of the total steel exports by Japan during the month. Among Asian countries, China accounted for bulk of imports. The Chinese imports of Japanese steel have totaled 435,000 tons during the month, significantly higher by 7.2% when matched with the previous year. However, the imports by China were down by nearly 3% over the previous month.

Asian Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs) imported 780,000 tons of steel products from Japan. The exports to the region dropped by 1.4% month-on-month. The exports to ASEAN countries surged higher by over 8% during the month to total 1.076 million tons.

Among exports to remote regions, the Middle East accounted for 96,000 tons of steel products import from Japan. The exports to the region dropped sharply by 11.6% over the previous month. Russia imported around 1 million tons of steel products from Japan, declining sharply by 36% month-on-month. The imports by the US dropped considerably by one-fourth to 147,000 tons, whereas the imports by the EU region declined by nearly 15% to 17,000 tons.

According to MoF data, Japan’s imports of steel products totaled 702,000 tons during Nov ’16, rising by 3.1% when matched with the previous month and by 8.1% when matched with the same month a year before.

The key exporter of steel products to Japan during the month was the Asian region. The imports from the region totaled 592,000 tons, accounting for nearly 84% of total steel imports by Japan in Nov ’16. The exports from the Asian region surged higher by over 10% year-on-year during the month. Among Asian countries, China accounted for 112,000 tons, dropping sharply by nearly 22% over the year. The imports from Asian NIEs were up by nearly 23% to total 450,000 tons. The ASEAN region countries exported 16,000 tons, rising significantly by 30.9%.

Among imports from remote regions, those from the EU region surged higher significantly by 36% to 11,000 tons. The imports from Russia too were up sharply by around 69% to 26,000 tons during November this year.

The latest forecast by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) suggests marginal rise in crude steel output during Q1 2017. The country’s crude steel production is expected to increase by 1.8% over the previous year to 26.32 million metric tons during Jan-Mar ’17. The overall demand for steel products is expected to climb higher by 1.5% during the quarter. The country’s crude steel output had declined by 1.4% to 8.6 million tons during November this year, as per World Steel Association monthly data.