ZHENGYANG MACHINERY EQUIPMENT Co.,Ltd.

The latest statistics published by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) shows that the country’s steel exports dropped by 7% in November 2018, upon comparison with the year before that. Month-on-month, the exports were down by 5.2%. The Japanese steel exports totaled 2.97 million mt in November 2018.

 

According to JISF, the exports of ordinary carbon steel totaled 1.9 million mt in November 2018, down by 4.3% year-on-year. The exports of special steel dropped sharply by 11.2% over the previous year to total 645,834 mt. JISF noted that domestic steel producers have continued to limit exports so as to meet rising domestic demand. However, the export drop widened further, mainly on account of the trouble at No.2 blast furnace in JFE Steel’s Kurashiki steelworks in western Japan.

 

The largest destination of Japanese steel exports was Thailand. The exports to that country totaled 496,917 mt, registering decline for the first time in seven months. The shipments to China surged higher by 6% over the previous year to 475,403 mt. South Korea-the third largest importer, witnessed over 12% decline in imports from Japan during November 2018. The monthly steel exports to South Korea by Japan totaled 438,977 mt.

 

Meantime, Japanese scrap exports tumbled 27% year-on-year to total around 500,000 tons in November 2018. The leading importers of Japanese scrap during the month were South Korea (260,000 tons), Vietnam (110,000 tons) and China (90,000 tons).