In the first two months of this year, Japan's cold rolled sheet and strip shipments increased by 0.66 percent on year-on-year basis to 1.05 million metric tons, according to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) data. 56 percent of shipments were made to the domestic market and the remaining 44 percent were made to the export markets.
Meanwhile, in February this year, Japan's CR sheet and strip inventories decreased by 3.7 percent from the previous month to 658,243 metric tons, and were up one percent year on year. 72 percent of inventories were held by steel manufacturers, while 28 percent were held by steel traders.
The average domestic price for CR sheet and strip in Japan in the first two months this year was JPY 79,000/mt ($766/mt), up JPY 1,000/mt ($9.69/mt) compared to the average price in the first two months of the previous year.
In January-February this year, Japan's CR sheet and strip output totaled 1.06 million metric tons, decreasing by 2.7 percent year on year.
