Japan Ferrous Scrap Export Shows First Increases in 7 months

Japanese ferrous scrap export increased by 42.5% to 647,000 tonnes in December from November, which increased for the first time in 7 months. Japanese scrap exporters received many inquiries from steel makers in China and South Korea in late October through late November while scrap demand was stagnant in Japan.

Japanese ferrous scrap export increased by 49.8% to 343,000 tonnes to China in December from November while the export increased by 41.7% to 272,000 tonnes to South Korea and the export to Taiwan was 17,000 tonnes increasing by 325%. The export to China and Taiwan showed month-to-month increase for 2 months in a row while the export to South Korea increased for the first time in 3 months.

Japanese ferrous scrap export increased by 73.0% to 9.48 million tonnes in 2009 from 2008, which topped the highest record of 7.654 million tonnes in September 2006.