According to statistics released by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) on August 31, in July this year, Japanese steel products exports increased by 2.3% year-on-year to 3.03 million tons.

Earlier last year, the plate product that was shrinking due to a fire accident at the Oita Works's plate production line saw a 76.8% increase in July this year, which led to an overall increase in Japanese steel exports. . However, although the plate boosted the entire steel export, the export volume of other core products such as hot-rolled steel sheets and steel strips was still less than 1 million tons, so Japan's steel exports have not yet returned to normal. Analysts believe that the main reason is that Japanese steel companies have shifted their sales focus to the domestic market.

According to JISF data, Japanese steel inventories remained at 5.671 million tons in July, a decrease of 254,000 tons from June. JISF explained that the decline in steel inventories in July was mainly due to the consumption of the domestic market.

At the same time, the inventory of exported steel products increased by 75,000 tons from the previous month, rising for four consecutive months, while the inventory of steel products fell to 6.739 million tons in four months, a drop of 115.7%.