Japan Stainless Steel Scrap Import Increasing

Japanese stainless steel scrap export has shown uptrend in these years. The export started to increase in 1997 and exceeded 100,000 tonnes for the first time in 2001. The export doubled in 5 years of 1997-2001. In 1997 Japanese stainless steel scrap import jumped up to over 200,000 tonnes from 165 tonnes in 1996. The import keeps over 100,000 tonnes since 1998. The import increased by 28% to 138,080 tonnes in 2006 over the previous year. In February 2007, the export was 19,800 tonnes and the import was 17,270 tonnes, the difference between which shrank when Japanese domestic price of stainless steel scrap sharply rose.