According to the customs statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance, Japan's iron and steel product exports in December 2012 amounted to 3.87 million metric tons, increasing by 23.5 percent compared to the same month of 2011 and up by 9.2 percent month on month, while Japan's steel imports came to 648,229 metric tons, with a month-on-month decrease of 9.1 percent and a year-on-year decrease of 13 percent.
In 2012, Japan's iron and steel exports totaled 42.5 million mt, increasing 3.1 percent year on year, while the country's iron and steel imports amounted to 8 million mt, down 3.1 percent from 2011.
Regarding Japan's major steel export markets, in 2012 the country's steel exports to South Korea totaled 8.2 million mt, down 7.2 percent, while steel exports to China decreased by 11.8 percent to 6.1 million metric tons, exports to Thailand totaled 5.4 million metric tons, up 17 percent, the export volume to Taiwan amounted to 3.5 million metric tons, up by 0.2 percent, while exports to the US came to 2.4 million metric tons, increasing by 22.1 percent, all compared to 2011.
In 2012, Japan imported 3.1 million metric tons of steel from South Korea, up 4.8 percent, it imported 846,075 metric tons from Taiwan, up by 3.4 percent, while imports from China came to 458,735 metric tons, decreasing by 28.1 percent, all compared to 2011.