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According to preliminary data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance on February 17, Japan’s steel exports of all types and shapes fell 13.3% year-on-year to about 2.43 million tons in January, which is the ninth consecutive month with year-on-year declines.

Japan’s January steel exports also fell 3.4% month-over-month, and Asian customers remained the main buyers, with 1.96 million tons, down 6% year-over-year but up slightly by 0.9% month-over-month.

Among exports to Asia, volume to ASEAN 6 countries increased both year-over-year and month-over-month, mainly because Japanese integrated steel mills, such as Nippon Steel, increased their exports of hot-rolled coils to their plants, including cold rolling mills and galvanizing plants in the ASEAN region, to meet the growing need for such steel products.

Japanese steel exports in January were mostly booked around November, when two blast furnaces were restarted in January in response to growing demand from domestic end users.

In January, Japanese steel exports to China declined, although market sources noted that requests from Chinese customers remained very active, so it was more due to supply stress than demand.

Last month, Japanese imports of all types of steel totaled 526,546 tons, down 18.7% year-on-year and 4.9% month-on-month, or recording the 13th month with a year-on-year decline.

The Japan Iron & Steel Federation will release detailed data on steel exports and imports by product on Feb. 26.