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Japan's steel exports in 2005 totaled 32.60 million tons, down 7.6% from the previous year,
marking the first falloff in two years. Factors behind this decline were tightening supply and
demand in the domestic market and a slackened balance in other Asian markets, particularly
China. The largest market for Japanese steel products was South Korea (7.74 million tons),
followed by China (5.78 million tons), Thailand (4.10 million tons), and Taiwan (3.61 million tons).
Shipments to these four markets accounted for 65.1% of Japan's steel exports.
By destination, exports to South Korea dropped 13.6% from the previous year's 8.95 million tons
for the third consecutive year of decline. The decline came about because shipments of hot-rolled
sheets and strips, galvanized sheets, and special steel products decreased, although those of
ingots and semifinished products, plates, and shapes increased. Similarly, China-bound exports
dropped a sharp 16.1% from 6.89 million tons the previous year. Shipments of plates, hot-rolled
sheets and strips, and electrical sheets increased, while those of galvanized sheets, cold-rolled
sheets and coils, and special steel products decreased. On the other hand, lifted by increasing
shipments of such products as galvanized sheets and special steel products, exports to Thailand
rose 6.1%, to 4.10 million tons, for the fourth consecutive year of growth. Exports to Taiwan of both
ordinary steel products and special steel products decreased, while shipments of semis to that
market doubled. Steel exports to Taiwan overall rose 11.4%.
By type of product, ordinary steel products accounted for 70.7% of all Japanese steel exports in
2005, special steel represented 14.1%, and ingots and semis came to 12.5%. Exports of ordinary
steel products fell 11.2% from the previous year, to 23.04 million tons. A breakdown of ordinary
steel products shows that shipments of hot-rolled sheets and strips plunged 17.4%, and those of
galvanized sheets and cold-rolled sheets and coils declined significantly as well. Thus, shipments
of all major products, except for heavy and medium plates, dropped from the previous year's level.
Furthermore, exports of special steel products were down 14.6%, to 4.59 million tons. On the other
hand, exports of ingots and semis totaled 4.07 million tons, soaring 30.9%.
Japan's steel imports in 2005 surged 19.7% over the previous year, to 8.44 million tons, for the
third straight year of growth. Ordinary steel products accounted for 50.2% of total imports, at 4.23
million tons, followed by ferroalloys, pig iron, secondary products, and special steel products. Of
ordinary steel products, cold-rolled sheets and coils shot up 41.2%, while hot-rolled sheets and
strips, the largest import items, rose 6.5%. On the other hand, imports of special steel products
were down 1.7%, to 0.29 million tons. The largest supplier of ordinary steel products to Japan was
South Korea, which shipped 2.37 million tons, up 25.2%, followed by Taiwan, with 0.89 million
tons, up 11.4%. Shipments from China jumped 51.2%, to 0.82 million tons. Imports from these
three countries together accounted for 96.5% of all ordinary steel products Japan imported in
2005. Ordinary steel imports from China reached an all-time high, breaking the previous record of
0.77 million tons, which was posted in 1995.
The Steel Trade data (PDF)
