In August this year, shipments of cold-rolled sheet and strip in Japan fell 9.1 percent month-on-month and increased 9.4 percent year-on-year to 376,317 metric tons. According to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF), 45.7 percent of shipments were made to the domestic market and the remaining 54.3 percent to export markets.
Meanwhile, in the month, Japan's inventories of CR sheets and strips rose 9.1 percent from the previous month to a total of 700,183 metric tons, and were down by 3.8 percent year on year. 74.4 percent of inventories were held by steel producers and 25.6 percent by steel traders.
In August, Japan's CR sheet and strip production was 434,480 tons, up 9.7 percent month-on-month and 7.5 percent year-on-year.
