According to statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance, the country’s exports of iron and steel products totaled 3.48 million tons in September, falling by 2.3% year on year and decreasing by 6.5% from a month ago. Besides, the country’s steel imports totaled 603,567 tons in September, decreasing by 9.9% from a month ago and falling by 4.9% year on year. In January-September period, Japan’s steel exports amounted to 33.2 million tons, up by 4.8% and the country’s steel imports totaled 5.48 million tons, falling by 7.2%, both compared to the figures in the same period of 2012. In the given period of time, Korea was the largest importer of the Japanese with 6 million tons, decreasing by 6.2%; China was the second largest one with 4.52 million tons, falling by 2.9% and Taiwan was the third largest one with 2.97 million tons, increasing by 15.1%, all compared to those in the same period of 2012.
