Japan cuts July iron ore imports from Australia
Japan continued to reduce iron ore imports from Australia in July, as the northeast Asian country's steel production remained low despite a slight recovery from a Covid-19-driven slump a month earlier.
Iron ore imports from Australia fell sharply by 39pc on the year to 3.8mn t in July, according to preliminary data from the Japanese finance ministry. Japan also slashed iron ore imports from Brazil by 59pc from a year earlier to 1.2mn t in July.
Australia and Brazil accounted for 84pc of Japan's total imports in July. Total iron ore imports declined by 43pc on the year to 6mn t in July, the ministry said earlier.
Japan's crude steel production rebounded slightly in July from a month earlier, in response to recovering domestic car output. Steel mills have forecast a recovery in July-September steel production from lows in April-June when demand from the manufacturing sector slumped because of Covid-19 restrictions. Steel output is expected to further increase after October.
Japan's iron ore imports ('000t) | ||||||
Origin | Jul '20 | Jul '19 | ± % | Jan-Jul 2020 | Jan-Jul 2019 | ± % |
Australia | 3,783 | 6,137 | -39 | 32,682 | 40,183 | -19 |
Brazil | 1,239 | 2,986 | -59 | 14,341 | 18,615 | -23 |
Canada | 236 | 505 | -53 | 3,343 | 4,093 | -18 |
US | 134 | 130 | 3 | 1,042 | 1,063 | -2 |
New Zealand | 0.2 | 0 | na | 82 | 82 | unchanged |
India | 70 | 55 | 27 | 971 | 1,158 | -16 |
China | 0 | 151 | na | 397 | 510 | -22 |
South Africa | 236 | 400 | -41 | 2,059 | 2,049 | 0.5 |
Russia | 0 | 0 | na | 313 | 142 | 120 |
Mauritania | 151 | 0 | na | 452 | 450 | 0.4 |
Chile | 0 | 0 | na | 152 | 103 | 48 |
Peru | 151 | 0 | na | 302 | 305 | -1 |
Ukraine | 0 | 209 | na | 94 | 806 | -88 |
Sweden | 0 | 0 | na | 0 | 163 | na |
Total | 6,000 | 10,573 | -43 | 56,230 | 69,722 | -19 |
Source: Japan's finance ministry |
Related news posts
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more