TOKYO: The trade statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) for the month of June this year indicates 3% decline in iron ore imports by the country. The decline in imports is on account of production cuts implemented by country’s steel makers in order to lower inventory levels.
The Japanese iron ore imports during the month totaled 10.475 Million tonnes, 2.7% lower when compared with the imports during the same month a year ago. The country’s iron ore imports had totaled 10.763 Million tonnes during June 2014. The imports during June edged higher when compared with 9.611 Million tonnes imported by the country during the month of May this year.
The import prices averaged at ¥ 8,969 per tonne, nearly 30.3% lower year-on-year.
The cumulative iron ore imports by Japan during the initial six-month period of the year totaled 64.681 Million tonnes, down marginally by 3.18% when compared with the imports of 66.805 Million tonnes during January to June last year. The average import prices were at ￥9,562.33 per tonne during the six-month period this year. The average import prices have declined sharply by 27.6% over the previous year.
The MoF data also indicates that the country’s pig iron output remained almost flat at 20.541 Million tonnes during Q1 2015 in comparison with the output of 20.513 Million tonnes during the initial three-month period last year. The Japanese crude steel production had dropped 3% during the first quarter of the current year, falling to 26.745 Million tonnes from 27.567 year-on-year. The crude steel output during the second quarter fell even more by 6.4% to 25.891 Million tonnes.
