Japan Half-Year Fe Scrap Export Exceeds 2008 Full-Year Volume

Japanese ferrous scrap export keeps high level this year. The export totaled 5.553 million tonnes for January-June 2009, up by 79.7% from the same period of 2008, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. The half-year export exceeded a full-year export volume of 5.437 million tonnes in 2008. Offshore scrap users have actively purchased Japanese ferrous scrap since the market price plunged in Japan in autumn 2008.

The export expanded by 146.3% to 3.032 million tonnes for China in January-June from a year earlier, which increased by 31.2% to 2.091 million tonnes for South Korea and by 66.8% to 247,000 tonnes for Taiwan. The half-year export for China exceeded a full-year volume in 2008. The export for Taiwan exceeded a full-year volume in 2008 only for 5 months of January-May.

Japanese ferrous scrap export in June was 1.103 million tonnes. The export decreased by 8.7% from the previous month but hit the third historically highest volume. The export increased by 45.5% to 505,000 tonnes for Chine in June from May, while which decreased by 29.3% to 429,000 tonnes for South Korea and by 72.9% to 28,000 tonnes for Taiwan.