Japan Integrated Steels Slightly Recover Scrap Utilization

Ferrous scrap utilization in Japanese domestic converter steels was 11.6% in April, which surged for 3 months in a row, according to Japan Ferrous Raw Materials Association. The utilization rate became below 10% in January 2008, the level as low as 9.9% in December 2003. In April, ferrous scrap consumption seemed to recover slightly at domestic integrated steel makers.

Integrated steels have minimized ferrous scrap procurement since autumn 2008 with surplus scrap inventory and the slow consumption. Integrated steels have almost suspended the purchase from outer suppliers since the beginning of this year, said a scrap dealer source. In June, JFE Steel’s West Japan Works (Kurashiki District) restarted ferrous scrap purchase from market dealers.

According to Japan Ferrous Raw Materials Association, domestic ferrous scrap consumption for converter steel, electric furnace steel and casting totaled 2.426 million tonnes in April, increasing by 6.9% from the previous month. The consumption stayed at below 3 million tonnes per month since December 2008 along steel makers’ low operations. Meanwhile, ferrous scrap supply increased by 2.9% to 2.372 million tonnes.

The consumption decreased by 1.2% to 541,000 tonnes for converter steel, increased by 15.2% to 1.544 million tonnes for electric furnace steel and increased by 0.9% to 304,000 tonnes.