Japan’s stainless steel scrap imports record 12% jump in 2016

TOKYO (Scrap Monster): According to latest statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF), the country’s stainless steel scrap imports have registered significant increase during 2016. The yearly imports surged by over 12% in 2016. However, the monthly imports in December 2016 witnessed marginal decline over the prior month.

Japan imported 7,309 tons of stainless steel scrap during December last year. The imports dropped marginally by a little over 2% when matched with the prior month. The country’s imports of the material had totaled 7,460 tons during November 2016. The shipments from Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the US reported strong growth during the month. On the other hand, imports from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Canada registered month-on-month decline in stainless steel scrap shipments to Japan. The monthly imports averaged at JPY 144,413, up by 6.3% over the previous month.

The largest exporter of stainless steel scrap to Japan during December ’16 was South Korea. The imports from Korea totaled 3,757 tons, accounting for more than 50% of the total Japanese imports during the month. The imports from Korea jumped higher by nearly 7% when matched with the month before. The stainless scrap imports from Korea had totaled 3,502 tons during Nov ‘16. In second place was Taiwan with 1,593 tons. The imports from Taiwan climbed higher from 1,515 tons in November. The other primary exporters of stainless steel scrap to Japan were the USA (1,011 tons), Thailand (301 tons), Indonesia (212 tons), Singapore (143 tons) and Hong Kong (39 tons).

The cumulative imports during the entire year 2016 totaled 100,911 tons. The yearly imports registered 12% jump when matched with 2015. Japan had imported 89,951 tons of stainless steel scrap during the entire year 2015.

The largest exporter during the year was South Korea. The imports from the country totaled 49,354 tons, accounting for nearly 49% of the total Japanese imports during the year. The imports from the country declined slightly when matched with 51,624 tons during 2015. The second and third largest exporters during 2016 were Taiwan and the US with exports of 21,946 tons and 13,481 tons respectively. The other key exporters of stainless steel scrap to Japan during 2016 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).

Port-wise, Japanese Yokohama discharged the largest quantity of imported stainless steel scrap in December 2016. The discharge through the port totaled 2,569.2 tons during the month, closely followed by Tokuyama with 2,081.7 tons. The total tonnage of stainless steel scrap discharged through various other ports is as follows: Maizuru (1,214.6 tons), Nagoya (368.8 tons), Osaka (324.6 tons), Tokyo (263.7 tons), Sakai (181.8 tons), Kawasaki (150.5 tons), Moji (125.1 tons) and Kobe (29.2 tons).

Meantime, the country’s exports of stainless steel scrap totaled 7,309 metric tons in Dec ’16. The exports averaged at $1,277.57 per ton. South Korea accounted for over 50% of the total stainless steel scrap exports by Japan during the month. The imports by South Korea totaled 3,757 metric tons, followed by Taiwan (1,593 tons), the USA (1,011 tons), Thailand (301 tons) and Indonesia (212 tons). The cumulative exports during the entire year 2016 totaled 100,911 metric tons. The key importers of waste and scrap stainless steel from Japan during the year were South Korea (49,354 tons), Taiwan (21,946 tons), the USA (13,481 tons), Hong Kong (3,130 tons) and Indonesia (2,849 tons).