Ordinary Steel Imports Up 20 percent in 1995--December Imports Flat

摘要

According to an announcement from the Kozai Club on February 22, 1995 steel ordinary steel imports increased by 20.1 percent over the previous year to 6,143,000 tons. Total steel imports were 11,717,000 tons, a sharp increase of 30.3 percent. Against a background of the sharply rising value of the yen and supply uncertainty resulting from the Kobe earthquake, trading companies and importers actively sought after contracts. Wire rod imports were up 29.7 percent to 430,000 tons; most of the increase was for inexpensive rod from China and other countries. Hot coil was up by 25.4 percent to 2,525,000 tons; imports increased not only from the usual sources of South Korea and Taiwan, but also from the United States, China, Russia, and other sources. Cold rolled coil imports were up 23.4 percent to 960,000 tons. In addition to imports from major sources of South Korea, Taiwan, and New Zealand, there were also a large amount of imports from US Steel of the United States. Galvanized Sheet increased by 7.6 percentto 430,000 tons; one of the main reasons for the increase was the expansion of exports by POSCO to Japan of galvanized sheet with a high added value. Pig iron imports to Japan were 2,771,000 tons, increasing by 53.1 percent, and ferroalloy was up 26.8 percent to 1,869,000 tons.