Japanese Iron Ore Imports Decline While Coal Shipments Increase

Coal, Iron Ore

Japanese iron ore imports fell by 4.3% year-on-year to a five-month low of 10.3 Mt in July, according to the country’s Ministry of Finance. Shipments have now declined on an annual basis in five of the last seven months, with imports in January-July down by 2.0% on the same period in 2016 at 73.5 Mt. By contrast, Japan’s coal imports rose by 3.7% year-on-year to 16.7 Mt in July, with cargoes in the first seven months of the year up by 2.7% at 111.0 Mt.