Japan Ferrous Scrap Shipment Drops by 4.8% in 2011

Japanese ferrous scrap shipment including export decreased by 4.8% to 30.578 million tonnes in 2011 from 2010, which decreased for 2 years in a row, according to Japan Ferrous Raw Materials Association. The domestic demand decreased by 2.2% to 25.298 million tonnes at domestic buyers’ purchase. The export decreased by 15.5% to 5.28 million tonnes. The major earthquake reduced the industrial grade scrap supply and the demand in the quake damaged area.

Domestic buyers’ scrap purchase decreased by 75.6% to 552,000 tonnes in the quake damaged Tohoku area in 2011 from 2010. The purchase decreased by 56.9% to 442,000 tonnes from local dealers in the area when the dealers apparently increased the supply for makers in other area. Total purchase volume in local area decreased by 1.9% to 20.665 million tonnes in Japan. The average local purchase rate was 81.7%.

Japanese buyers’ scrap purchase decreased by 508,000 tonnes to 6.631 million tonnes for industrial grade in 2011 from 2010. The obsolete grade scrap purchase decreased by 58,000 tonnes to 18.667 million tonnes. The industrial scrap purchase decreased by 1.4 percentage points to 26.2% of total purchase.