In the first four months of this year, Japan's cold rolled sheet and strip shipments increased by 2.66 percent on year-on-year basis to 2.18 million metric tons, according to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) data. 55 percent of shipments were made to the domestic market and the remaining 45 percent were made to the export markets. Meanwhile, in April, the country's cold rolled sheet and strip shipments decreased by 12.36 percent month on month, but rose 9.01 percent year on year, totaling 532,781 metric tons.

Meanwhile, in April this year, Japan's CR sheet and strip inventories increased by 0.48 percent from the previous month to 670,395 metric tons, and were down 1.82 percent year on year. 71 percent of inventories were held by steel manufacturers, while 29 percent were held by steel traders.

The average domestic price for CR sheet and strip in Japan in the first four months of this year was JPY 79,000/mt ($766/mt), up JPY 1,000/mt ($9.70/mt) compared to the average price in the first four months of the previous year.

In January-April this year, Japan's CR sheet and strip output totaled 2.20 million metric tons, increasing by 2.70 percent year on year.