Japan and Steel

tons: Steel is Japan's fourth-largest export item after automobiles, semiconductors and auto parts, according to The Japan Times. Japan, the world's second-largest exporter after China, shipped 36.5 million tons abroad last year. Japan shipped 5.9 million tons of steel products to Thailand last year, up 5.2 percent from a year ago and surpassing South Korea and China, which had been Japan's two largest steel consumers for the last two decades. ; South Korea imported 5.4 million tons, down 9.5 percent, and China imported 5.6 million tons, a 1 percent dip, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation said Thursday. South Korea had been the top importer of Japanese steel products partly because of its position as the world's leading shipbuilder. But Thailand has a distinctive steel consumption structure compared to other Southeast Asian nations, with automobiles, consumer electronics and machinery accounting for 19 percent, 8.7 percent and 6.6 percent of all steel consumption, respectively, according to data of the South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute. Generally, the construction sector accounts for a large portion of steel consumption in many countries. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.