TOKYO: Japanese stainless steel scrap imports gained significantly by 12 percent to 1,00,911 tons during last year as compared to 89,951 tons imported in 2015, as per the latest figures released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF).
According to the ministry, South Korea was the biggest exporter of stainless steel scrap to Japan during 2016 and which accounts 49 percent of Japanese total imports. Japan imported 49,354 tons of stainless steel scrap from South Korea last year, down as compared 51,624 tons in 2015.
Taiwan was the second biggest stainless steel scrap exporter to Japan during 2016 with 21,946 tons and third largest exporter was United States with 13,481 tons.
The other major stainless steel scrap exporter to Japan during last year were Hong Kong (3,130 tons), Indonesia (2,849 tons), Thailand (2,689 tons), Singapore (2,316 tons), China (2,040 tons) and Canada (180 tons).
However, the monthly imports of stainless steel scrap during December last year witnessed a 2 percent marginal decline over November 2016 to 7,309 tons.
