Japan's stainless steel scrap exports plunged in August

TOKYO (Scrap Monster): The stainless steel scrap exports by Japan during the month of August this year declined considerably, as per the latest data released by the country’s Ministry of Finance. According to MoF data, the country’s scrap exports totaled 15,167 tons during the month.

The exports were down marginally by 7% when compared with the exports during the same month a year before. The country’s stainless steel scrap exports during August last year had totaled 16,300 tons. The Japanese steel scrap exports dropped sharply when compared with the previous month. The exports were down by nearly 19% when matched with the exports of 18,725 tons during July this year.

The largest importer of Japanese stainless steel scrap during the month of August this year was South Korea. The scrap imports by South Korea totaled 6,266 tons, constituting over 41% of the total scrap exports by Japan during the month. The stainless steel scrap exports to South Korea dropped sharply by 46% over the previous year. Japan had exported 11,604 tons of scrap to South Korea during August 2014. In second place was Taiwan with scrap stainless steel imports from Japan totaling to 3,902 tons. The exports to Taiwan dropped heavily by over 25% year-on-year. The stainless steel scrap imports to China surged higher by over 7 times month-on-month to 3,422 tons during the month.

The cumulative stainless steel scrap exports by Japan during the initial eight-month period of the year totaled 138,229 tons.

The country’s stainless steel scrap export for the whole year 2015 is estimated at 207,000 tons.