Posted on 26 Jul 2019
The preliminary trade statistics published by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) suggests notable decline in country’s steel export volumes during the month of June this year. The steel exports recorded eighth straight month of decline in terms of volume. The steel exports by the country had managed to recoup in May this year.
The exports fell short of 3 million tonnes (Mt) to total 2.87 Mt. This was down by 5.3% from the prior month and by 7.5% from the same month a year before. The value of exports recorded year-on-year decline by nearly 12% to total 261.869 billion yen. The MoF cited lower product prices and the wait-and-see approach by customers on U.S.-China trade war as the primary reasons for the export slowdown.
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Out of this, exports to Asia totaled 2.382 Mt, registering a decline of 5.2% over the year. Among Asian countries, 0.504 Mt were exported to South Korea, whereas the exports to China totaled 0.401 Mt. The Japanese steel exports to ASEAN countries dropped by 7.3% year-on-year to total 1.016 Mt. The other key export destinations were the U.S. (92,000 tonnes), the Middle East (52,000 tonnes), the EU (15,000 tonnes) and Russia (2,000 tonnes).
The monthly steel imports by the country too were down by 3.6% over the previous year to total 0.634 Mt in June 2019. The imports fell below the 0.7 Mt mark for the first time in 2019. The major sources of import were Asia (0.521 Mt), ASEAN (42,000 tonnes), Russia (38,900 tonnes), the EU (11,000 tonnes) and the U.S. (nearly 1,000 tonnes).
