According to data released by the Japan Iron and SteelFederation on Friday, Japan's steel exports in July rose 2.3% year-on-year to3.03 million tons, but fell 3.6% from June.

A Japanese Steel Union official said on Monday that althoughthe total steel exports have risen, the overall level is still not high; asJapanese steel mills prefer domestic market sales, export growth is relativelyslow. He added that as a major export of hot-rolled, the export volume in Julywas still less than one million tons. Japanese steel mills are stillcontrolling the pace of exports, but plate exports have grown significantly,pushing up total steel exports in July.

Japan's plate exports in July 2018 were 229,000 tons, up76.8% year-on-year, but down 2.8% from the previous month.

In terms of countries, the amount of steel exported toThailand in July was 514,000 tons, up 15.3% year-on-year and 3.1%month-on-month. The volume of steel exported to China increased by 8.2%year-on-year and by 5.9% from the previous month to 445,000 tons. The volume ofsteel exported to South Korea fell by 1.1% year-on-year and 8.7%quarter-on-quarter to 412,000 tons. Due to the booming economy in Thailand,Japanese full-process steel mills have increased their steel exports to thecountry. Among all steel products exported to Thailand, hot rolling rose by23.9% year-on-year to 170,000 tons, and billet exports surged by 237.7% to6,897 tons.