According to data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on August 31, Japan’s carbon steel exports in July fell 18.7% year-on-year to around 1.6 million tons, marking the third consecutive month of year-on-year decline. . Due to the significant increase in exports to China, Japan’s carbon steel exports in July increased by 4% from the previous month, marking the first month-on-month increase since March. From January to July, Japan’s general carbon steel exports totaled 12.6 million tons, down 1.4% year-on-year.

In July, Japan’s export volume of hot-rolled wide strip steel, the largest common carbon steel product in Japan, was approximately 851,800 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 15.3%, but a month-on-month increase of 22%. Among them, Japan’s hot-rolled wide-band steel exports to China were 148,900 tons, a year-on-year increase of 73%, and a month-on-month increase of 20%.

“Despite the obvious recovery in the Chinese market, Japan’s steel exports to other countries and regions are still weak due to the sluggish global market demand. Given that in March (before the start of the month-on-month decline in Japanese steel exports), the export volume of plain carbon steel reached 2.33 million tons. The severity of the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic on the Japanese steel export market is obvious.” The staff of the Japan Iron and Steel Union pointed out.

The staff member said that tinplate (tinplate) is one of the few steel grades in which exports of major steel products have increased year-on-year and month-on-month. This may be because people have been living at home for a long time after the outbreak and there is a constant demand for canned food. Increased. At the same time, this may also be driven by seasonal demand for canned fruits or other foods. Therefore, there is still uncertainty about whether this growth momentum will continue in the coming months.