Japan’s carbon steel exports in November declined on year for the seventh consecutive month, declining by 11.1% from November last year and 7.2% lower on month to 1.56 million tonnes, according to the latest data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation on December 28. A JISF official said the main reason was lower availability among Japanese steel producers.
Last month’s result meant that Japan’s carbon steel exports during January-November reached 19.29 million tonnes, down 5.6% on year, though carbon steel output during the period had declined by 13.9% on year to 59.96 million tonnes, according to JISF.
Exports of hot-rolled coils, the Japanese steel producers’ largest export item, dropped by 12.3% on year and 16.2% from October to 750,515 tonnes and making for the seventh consecutive on-year monthly decrease. “The Japanese mills have been busy fulfilling orders from their domestic buyers such as auto-related customers (so) they cannot allocate much for export,” the JISF official explained.
Japan’s Nov Exports by Product (selected)
|
Product |
Volume (tonnes) |
M-o-M |
Y-o-Y |
|
HRC |
750,515 |
-16.2% |
-12.3% |
|
Plate |
196,068 |
+11.5% |
-9.3% |
|
Galvenized sheet |
162,392 |
+13.7% |
-13.4% |
|
CRC |
154,517 |
+22.2% |
-6.6% |
|
Section |
43,869 |
-24.6% |
-3.4% |
|
Wire rod |
42,307 |
-3.9% |
+92.9% |
|
Tinplate |
39,363 |
-13.4% |
+12.5% |
|
Bars |
28,241 |
-7.8% |
-11.7% |
|
Seamless pipes |
7,058 |
-47.9% |
-78.5% |
|
Total (carbon steel) |
1,564,090 |
-8.2% |
-11.1% |
|
Total (special steel) |
489,725 |
+0.5% |
-16.3% |
Source: JISF
A Tokyo-based steel trader said November exports were mostly booked around September, either right after or just before Nippon Steel and JFE Steel restarted their blast furnaces and began gradually lifting their output volume. “One furnace in August and two in November were reignited, but most of the extra steel is being digested by domestic customers; allocating much for export is not possible,” he explained. “Domestic demand for flat products has been improving quicker than expected. The mills will not be able to lift their exports for a while,” he added.
Nippon Steel had decided to skip sales of flat carbon steel products in January for spot customers, because deliveries have been delayed. The company wants to focus on supplying the contracted tonnage to buyers where deliveries are already behind schedule, as previously reported.
A second trader pointed out that the decline in carbon steel exports to China was not a consequence of any decline in demand from Chinese customers, but rather, it was because the Japanese suppliers have other commitments.
“Demand from other Asian countries including Thailand has started improving. After the Japanese mills started allocating their availability to their downstream plants in Thailand, they had to reduce the export volume to China,” he added.
Carbon steel exports to China declined by 14.8% on year and fell 9.5% from October to 241,375 tonnes, making for the first on-year drop in seven months, while those to Thailand at 213,402 tonnes were still off by 9% on year but up 4.6% on month, according to the JISF data.
Meanwhile, Japan imported 326,664 tonnes of carbon steel in November, which was lower by 22.6% on year and by 14.3% on month and took the January-November total to 3.64 million tonnes, down 18.4% on year.
The second trader believed that the import decline must be because the overseas market has improved much quicker compared to Japan and prices in other markets are higher and much more attractive. “It resulted in overseas suppliers limiting their volume to Japan. We expect Japan’s steel imports will stay lower for a while, until prices reach international levels,” he predicted.
Written by Yoko Manabe, yoko.manabe@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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