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Where does Japan get its steel? Import sources 2024

In 2024, Japan imported $5.3 billion of steel (5.9 million tonnes), 1.5% of the world total. South Korea sold 55% of the total, followed by China (22%) and Taiwan (16%). Japan was the world’s 22nd-largest importer of steel.

Summary

Value
$5.3billion
Tonnes
5.9million tonnes
Share of world total
1.5%
World rank
22nd
Routes from the main sources. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Sources

The 20 main sources in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
South Korea2.9Tonnes: 3,510,133USD per tonne: $82354.8%Sea
China1.1Tonnes: 1,176,497USD per tonne: $97721.8%Sea
Taiwan0.86Tonnes: 963,826USD per tonne: $89016.3%Sea
Vietnam0.1Tonnes: 107,874USD per tonne: $9061.9%Sea
United States0.06Tonnes: 6,493USD per tonne: $9,3031.2%Sea
Thailand0.04Tonnes: 21,513USD per tonne: $1,8450.75%Sea
Sweden0.04Tonnes: 12,326USD per tonne: $2,9890.7%Sea
Germany0.02Tonnes: 8,524USD per tonne: $2,7130.44%Sea
India0.02Tonnes: 12,136USD per tonne: $1,8640.43%Sea
Malaysia0.01Tonnes: 19,118USD per tonne: $7270.26%Sea
Indonesia0.01Tonnes: 9,695USD per tonne: $1,3760.25%Sea
Austria0.01Tonnes: 1,128USD per tonne: $9,4470.2%Sea
Belgium re-exports0.01Tonnes: 1,627USD per tonne: $5,9240.18%Sea
Italy0.01Tonnes: 698USD per tonne: $10,7230.14%Sea
France< 0.01Tonnes: 475USD per tonne: $10,2750.09%Sea
Canada< 0.01Tonnes: 1,983USD per tonne: $2,0160.08%Sea
Egypt< 0.01Tonnes: 4,629USD per tonne: $7330.06%Sea
Czechia< 0.01Tonnes: 1,498USD per tonne: $2,0710.06%Sea
South Africa< 0.01Tonnes: 2,996USD per tonne: $9530.05%Sea
United Kingdom< 0.01Tonnes: 470USD per tonne: $5,7060.05%Sea

Trend

Who it buys from

South Korea was its main source throughout the period

Value in USD billions. The five largest sources in 2024.

  • South Korea 2.9
  • China 1.1
  • Taiwan 0.86
  • Vietnam 0.1
  • United States 0.06

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
South Korea1.52.9
China0.411.1
Taiwan0.390.86
Vietnam00.1
United States0.140.06

Sources and methodology

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Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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