An industry group said that the nation's steel exports in fiscal 2012 increased 9.5% from the previous year to a record high of about 43.8 million tonne.

The Japan Iron and Steel Federation said that exports to Thailand jumped 25.6% to 5.73 million tonne, after slumping in the previous year due to the impact of massive floods in the Southeast Asian country.

Of the total, exports of hot-rolled wide strips, used mainly in automobiles, shot up 26.1% to 10.93 million tonne.

In March, overall steel exports grew 4.7% from a year before to 4.08 million tonne, up for the 5th consecutive month.