TOKYO: According to latest statistics released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF), the country’s imports of steel scrap dropped considerably during the month of February this year.
The imports during the month declined sharply by nearly 6.3% when compared with the previous month. The steel scrap imports by Japan totaled 11,469 tons in February 2016. Japan had imported 12,246 tons of steel scrap during the month of January this year. Upon comparison with the import during the same month a year before, the Japanese steel scrap imports during February this year were down by nearly 7.1%. The country had imported 12,346 tons of steel scrap during February 2015.
During the month of February, the largest exporter of steel scrap to Japan was South Korea. The exports from South Korea totaled 7,266 tons. The Japanese imports from South Korea increased sharply by nearly 14% when compared with the imports of 6,377 tons during Jan ‘16. The imports from Korea accounted for over 63% of the total steel scrap imports by Japan during the month. The other key exporters of scrap steel to Japan during Feb ’16 were the USA (1,308 tons) and Taiwan (1,198 tons).
The country’s steel scrap exports during the initial two-month period of the year totaled 23,715 tons. The cumulative imports dropped heavily by 13.6% year-on-year during this period. The steel scrap imports by Japan during January to February last year had totaled 27,436 tons.
The largest exporter of steel scrap to Japan during the initial two-month period of the year was South Korea. The exports from South Korea totaled 13,643 tons. The Japanese imports from South Korea dropped sharply by 26% when compared with the imports of 18,447 tons during the corresponding period a year before. In second place was the US with total exports of 3,313 tons. The steel scrap exports from the US to Japan surged higher by 50.2% year-on-year. Taiwan exported 2,832 tons of scrap steel to Japan during Jan-Feb ’16.
