Japan’s Jan-Jun carbon steel exports rise 1.8% on year

Japan’s carbon steel exports rose by 1.8% year on year in the first half of 2020 to about 11 million tonnes, according to data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on July 31, which was more to do with a lower base number for the first half of 2019, according to a JISF official.

The Japanese integrated mills came across some steelmaking facility issues over January-March 2019, and their finished steel output had been affected as a result, forcing them to prioritize deliveries to their domestic customers, the official elaborated, “and steel exports for January-June this year appeared higher even though the export volume reduced over April-June,” he added. Japan’s