In the January-July period of this year, Japan's cold rolled sheet and strip shipments decreased by 1.7 percent on year-on-year basis to 3.77 million metric tons, according to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) data. 54 percent of shipments were made to the domestic market and the remaining 46 percent were made to the export markets. Meanwhile, in July, the country's cold rolled sheet and strip shipments decreased by 5.5 percent month on month and declined by 7.8 percent year on year, totaling 525,622 metric tons.
Meanwhile, in July this year, Japan's CR sheet and strip inventories increased by 0.2 percent from the previous month to 654,134 metric tons, and were up 1.22 percent year on year. 71 percent of inventories were held by steel manufacturers, while 29 percent were held by steel traders.
The average domestic price for CR sheet and strip in Japan in the first seven months of this year was JPY 79,000/mt ($766/mt), up JPY 1,000/mt ($9.70/mt) compared to the average price in the first seven months of the previous year.
In the first seven months of this year, Japan's CR sheet and strip output totaled 3.77 million metric tons, decreasing by 1.1 percent year on year.
