TOKYO: The latest statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance indicate that the country’s ferrous scrap declined significantly in September, in comparison with the previous month. This is the 27th straight month that the scrap imports by the country have fallen short of 20,000 tons. Also, the imports were down when matched with those during the same month a year before. However, the combined imports during the initial three-quarters of the current year were marginally up year-on-year.
Japan imported 10,020 tons of scrap steel during the month of September this year. The imports were down by 22.6% when matched with the previous month. The country had imported 12,947 tons of scrap steel during August 2016. When compared with the year before, the September ’16 imports were down sharply by 11.9%. The country’s ferrous scrap imports had totaled 11,373 tons during September last year.
The largest exporter of ferrous scrap to Japan during September this year was South Korea. The imports from South Korea totaled 4,014 tons, accounting for more than 40% of the total scrap imports by Japan during the month. The imports from the country witnessed 46% decline from the previous month imports of 7,465 tons. Taiwan was the second largest exporter during the month, with 2,850 tons. The ferrous scrap imports from Taiwan surged higher by more than 24% over the previous month. The other key exporters of ferrous scrap to Japan during the month were the USA (1,215 tons), Hong Kong (532 tons), Thailand (339 tons), China (175 tons) and Philippines (159 tons).
The country’s scrap imports during January to September this year totaled 116,470 tons. The imports during this period have witnessed marginal rise of 3.4% over the imports during the same period a year ago. The country’s scrap imports had totaled 112,607 tons during January to September in 2015. The scrap imports averaged nearly 13,000 tons during the first nine months of the year. The annualized scrap imports by the country are estimated to surpass 160,000 tons during the entire year 2016.
The largest supplier of ferrous scrap to Japan during the initial nine-month period in 2016 was South Korea. The scrap imports from South Korea declined modestly by 13.2% year-on-year to 116,470 tons when matched with the imports of 112,607 tons during the corresponding period last year. The imports from South Korea accounted for 66.1% of the total imports by Japan during this period. The other leading exporters of ferrous scrap to Japan during this period were Taiwan (20,751 tons, 17.8% share), the USA (11,790 tons, 10.1% share), Thailand (3,390 tons, 2.9% share), Hong Kong (2,838 tons, 2.4% share) and China (2,651 tons, 2.3% share).
The imports from Hong Kong recorded highest jump during Jan-Sep ’16. The imports from the country surged higher by 955% over the previous year. On the other hand, imports from South Korea declined the most during this period. The scrap imports from the country reported 13.2% year-on-year decline. The other countries to report significant decline in import volumes were the USA (-6.1%) and Singapore (-5.1%).
