In January this year, shipments of cold-rolled sheet and strip in Japan rose 7.2 percent from the previous month and rose 1.7 percent year-on-year to 391,845 metric tons. According to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF), 51.1 percent of shipments were made to the domestic market and the remaining 48.9 percent to export markets.
Meanwhile, in the month, Japan's inventories of CR sheets and strips increased 5.3 percent from the previous month to a total of 674,189 metric tons, up 4.9 percent year-on-year. 73.8 percent of inventories were held by steel producers and 26.2 percent by steel traders.
In January, Japan's CR sheet and strip production was 425,942 tons, up 30.8 percent month-on-month and 2.9 percent year-on-year.
