Higher Japan Ferrous Scrap Consumption by Steel Makers

Japanese steel makers’ ferrous scrap consumption rate increased by 0.4 percentage points to 12.2% in July from a year earlier, according to Japan Ferrous Raw Materials Association. Domestic integrated steel makers increased the consumption to increase output and to reduce carbon dioxide emission. Japanese integrated steel makers’ scrap usage rate has kept more than 12% for 10 months in a row. Their scrap consumption increased by 6.6% to 1.018 million tonnes in July from June, which reached 1 million tonnes for the first time in 2 months. The consumption increased by 9% to 6.951 million tonnes in January-July from same period of 2006. The usage could reach averaged 1 million tonnes per month. The scrap usage rate increased by 0.1 point to 12.3%. Ferrous scrap market price increased in July when Utsunomiya plant of Tokyo Steel Manufacturing increased the purchase price by 500-1,500 yen per tone while the price was down phase in July 2006. The strong market was partly due to rebound of Japanese scrap export price and more purchase by domestic integrated steel makers.