In March this year, Japan’s cold rolled sheet and strip shipments moved up by 6.6 percent compared to the previous month and went down by 6.3 percent on year-on-year basis, amounting to 419,242 metric tons. 45.6 percent of shipments were made to the domestic market, while the remaining 54.4 percent were made to the export markets, according to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) data.
Meanwhile, in the given month, Japan’s CR sheet and strip inventories remained relatively stable compared to the previous month, totaling 617,730 metric tons, and were down by 9.8 percent year on year. 73.0 percent of inventories were held by steel manufacturers, while 27.0 percent were held by steel traders.
In March, Japan’s CR sheet and strip production amounted to 419,517 mt, up by 13.8 percent month on month and 7.7 percent year on year.