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On June 30th, the Japan Steel LR/DH62 steel Alliance released data showing that Japan's steel exports in May 2025 decreased by 8.9% year-on-year to 2.53 million tons, marking the second consecutive month of decline. Due to the continuous decrease in shipments to major markets, Japan's steel exports are overall in a sluggish state.
In May, the export volume to China LR/DH62 steel was 197200 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 27.8%, marking the 11th consecutive month of decline. The export to the United States was 97800 tons, a slight decrease of 0.5% year-on-year, and has been declining for six consecutive months. The decline in exports to South Korea was even greater, with May's export volume decreasing by 26.2% year-on-year to 298900 tons, marking the fifth consecutive month of decline.
The export volume of hot-rolled wide strip steel in May decreased by 8.7% year-on-year to 932100 tons. In the first five months of this year, the cumulative export volume of this variety was 4.75 million tons, accounting for 37.3% of the total export volume during the same period, a slight decrease of 0.6% year-on-year.
Overall, from January to May 2025, Japan's cumulative steel exports amounted to 12.75 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.8%. Among them, exports to China decreased by 18.7% year-on-year to 963900 tons; Decreased by 12.7% to 441700 tons for the United States; For South Korea, it decreased by 23.9% to 1.62 million tons.
Despite a general decline in shipments to mainstream markets, Thailand became the largest export destination for Japanese steel in May, with imports reaching 370500 tons, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%, marking the first growth in three months.
In addition to weak exports, Japan's crude steel production in May also experienced a second consecutive month of year-on-year decline, reflecting the dual pressure on domestic and foreign demand.
In addition, Japanese steel is facing increasing trade barriers in the Asian market. Malaysia decided on June 20th to extend its anti-dumping measures on cold-rolled coils imported from China and Japan for five years. On June 23, Masaru Imai, the president of the Japan Steel Alliance, responded that the conclusion made by the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry was "regrettable and unreasonable".
In addition to Malaysia LR/DH62 steel, India initiated steel safeguard measures in April, and South Korea also launched anti-dumping investigations on hot-rolled carbon steel and alloy steel products from China and Japan in March. Multiple countries have successively introduced trade remedy measures, which will further intensify the policy pressure faced by Japan's steel exports.
