Japanese scrap steel exports hit highest level in three years

TOKYO (Scrap Monster):  The latest statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) indicates that scrap steel exports by the country rose further during the month of April this year. The monthly exports were up when matched with the previous month as well as the year-ago month. The Japanese scrap steel exports have risen for the seventh consecutive month in April. Also, the April 2016 exports hit the highest level in three years.

April ’16 exports

The country’s scrap exports totaled 865,000 tons during April this year. This represents a sharp rise of 16% when matched with the exports during the same month a year before. The country’s scrap steel exports had totaled 746,000 tons during April last year. When matched with exports during the prior month, April ’16 exports were up by 9.7%.

The largest importer of Japanese scrap during the month of April this year was South Korea. The scrap imports by South Korea totaled 268,000 tons, constituting over 30% of the total scrap exports by Japan during the month. The scrap exports to South Korea dropped by 8.6% over the previous year. Japan had exported 293,000 tons of scrap to South Korea during April 2015. In second place was Vietnam with scrap steel imports from Japan totaling to 255,000 tons. The exports to Vietnam surged significantly higher by nearly 180% year-on-year. The exports to China dropped sharply by more than 11% to 182,000 tons. Meantime, scrap steel exports from Japan to Taiwan totaled 120,000 tons, declining by over 13% year-on-year.

The cumulative exports during the initial four-month period of the current year totaled 3.014 million tons. The yearly exports are projected to surpass 9 million tons in 2016.

Export trend in 2016

The following table summarizes the country’s steel scrap exports during the current year.

The steel scrap exports by Japan had totaled 618,000 tons during the first month of the current year.

The exports during February this year registered robust 20.3% growth over the previous month. When matched with the same month a year before, the exports were up by 8.6%.

South Korea was the largest importer of Japanese steel scrap during the month. The imports by the country totaled 260,000 tons, accounting for nearly 35% of the total scrap exports by Japan during the month. The scrap exports to South Korea increased marginally by 0.8% over the previous year. Japan had exported 258,000 tons of scrap to South Korea during February 2015. Vietnam followed with imports of 188,000 tons. The exports to Vietnam surged significantly higher by 51.4% year-on-year. The other main importers of Japanese steel scrap were China (122,000 tons, up by 6.5%) and Taiwan (101,000 tons, down 36.4%).

The exports had jumped higher significantly by over 6% month-on-month in March ’16 to 788,000 tons.

Stainless steel scrap exports

Meantime, Japan’s stainless steel scrap exports skyrocketed during the month of March this year, as per latest available data. The exports were up substantially by 85% month-on-month to 14,524 tons. The export prices were up by over 11% to ¥ 83363/ton relative to the prior month. The key importer of Japanese stainless steel scrap was Korea. The country imported 9,104 tons from Japan, rising sharply by 144% over the previous month. The cumulative exports during the initial three-month period of the year totaled 17,873 tons.