Japan Ferrous Scrap Use Reaches 20 million tonnes in Jan.-June

Japanese ferrous scrap consumption at converters and electric furnaces reached 20 million tonnes in January-June for the first time in 2 half years. The consumption at electric furnaces reached 15 million tonnes for the first time since July-December 2004 while the consumption at converters decreased to less than 5 million tonnes for the first time since January-June 2004. The consumption at converters and electric furnaces represented 82% of total domestic consumption. The total domestic consumption increased by 3.8% to 24.754 million tonnes in January-June from 23.876 million tonnes in July-December 2005, according to Japan ferrous Raw Materials Association. The consumption at converters and electric furnaces increased by 2.6% to 20.211 million tonnes from 19.703 million tonnes. The converters consumed 4.817 million tonnes, which decreased by 3.8% from 5.007 million tonnes. The electric furnaces consumed 4.7% higher at 15.394 million tonnes from 14.696 million tonnes. The domestic supply increased by 6.3% to 26.144 million tonnes in January-June from 24.596 million tonnes in July-December 2005. The return scrap from steel plans decreased by 1.5% to 7.516 million tonnes from 7.632 million tonnes. The scrap from domestic market increased by 9.8% to 18.628 million tonnes from 16.969 million tonnes. The scrap consumption was 4.319 million tonnes in June, which was flat from 4.322 million tonnes in May and 5.4% higher than 4.908 million tonnes in June 2005. The converters consumed 931,000 tonnes, which was flat from 936,000 tonnes in May and 4.1% higher than 894,000 tonnes in June 2005. The converters’ scrap consumption represented 12% of the steel sources compared with 11.8% in May and 11.6% in June 2005. The electric furnaces consumed 2.699 million tonnes in June, which was 2.7% lower than 2.773 million tonnes in May and 6.7% higher than 2.529 million tonnes in June 2005. The other steel making plants including casting tube used 2,000 tonnes of scrap from other steel plants, which decreased by 77.8% from 9,000 tonnes in May. The casting plants’ consumed 596,000 tonnes, which was 14.4% higher than 521,000 tonnes in May and 1% higher than 590,000 tonnes in June 2005. The other consumption was 101,000 tonnes, which was 21.7% higher than 83,000 tonnes in May. The total domestic ferrous scrap supply was 4.508 million tonnes in June, which was 13.9% lower than 5.233 million tonnes in May and 5.6% higher than 4.267 million tonnes in June 2005. The return scrap from steel makers was 1.249 million tonnes compared with 1.213 million tonnes in May and 1.252 million tonnes in June 2005. The scrap from market including import was 3.259 million tonnes, which was 18.9% lower than 4.02 million tonnes in May and 3.015 million tonnes in June 2005.