Japanese Iron Ore and Coal Imports

Coal, Iron Ore

At 10.3 Mt, Japanese iron ore imports rose by 5.0% year-on-year in December to the highest level in 17 months, data from the finance ministry show. However despite this rise, imports in 2020 dropped by 20.1 Mt annually to 99.4 Mt, the lowest level since at least 1980.

By contrast, the country’s total coal imports fell by 12.0% to 15.3 Mt in December. Imports in 2020 totalled 173.7 Mt, down 12.5 Mt on the 2019 total.