MoF: Japanese ferrous scrap exports collapse 14% in July

TOKYO (Scrap Monster):  The latest trade statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) indicates that the country’s ferrous scrap exports dropped significantly during the month of July this year. However, year-to-date exports during the initial seven-month period of the year stood higher when compared with 2015. Among Japanese ports, Chiba ranked first in terms of volume of ferrous scrap exports out of the country.

The MoF data suggests that Japan exported 647,435 tonnes of ferrous scrap during July 2016. The exports declined by 13.6% when matched with those during July last year. The country’s ferrous scrap export volumes had touched 749,346 tonnes during July last year. The largest importer of Japanese scrap during the month of July this year was South Korea. The scrap imports by South Korea totaled 360,000 tons, constituting nearly 56% of the total scrap exports by Japan during the month. The scrap exports to South Korea dropped sharply by 16.4% over the previous year. In second place was China with scrap steel imports from Japan totaling to 157,000 tons. The exports to China surged significantly higher by nearly 20.9% year-on-year.

The cumulative exports during the initial seven-month period of the year totaled 5.424 million tonnes, 11.1% higher when matched with the exports of 4.888 million tonnes reported during January to July last year. Japan had exported 4.887 tons of steel scrap during January to July last year. The average monthly exports stood at 775,000 tons during Jan-July ’16. The annualized scrap exports by the country in 2016 are estimated at 9.30 million tons.

In terms of shipment volume by Customs port, Chiba in Tokyo Bay region ranked first during July ’16, exporting 148,095 tonnes of ferrous scrap. The scrap shipments through the port registered 13.6% increase upon comparison with the exports during the same month a year before. Kawasaki stood second with total exports of 73,995 tonnes. The shipment volumes recorded a decline of 12.4% over the previous year. In third place was Tokyo with shipments totaling 40,723 tonnes, up by 8.3% year-on-year.

In terms of scrap exports during Jan-Jul ’16, Chiba ranked first by accounting for 15.4% share of total shipments. A total of 837,838 tonnes of ferrous scrap was shipped through the port during this period. The shipment volumes were up 11.2% over the previous year. Kawasaki stood second with 655,217 tonnes (12.1% share). The shipments through the port were up by nearly 9% year-on-year. In third place was Tokyo with 7% share of total exports. The exports through the port surged higher by over 28% year-on-year to total 378,623 tonnes. The other major ports that accounted for ferrous scrap exports were Kinuura (283,340 tonnes), Nagoya (248,952 tonnes) and Yokohama (245,306 tonnes). The four ports in the Tokyo Bay region- Chiba, Kawasaki, Tokyo and Yokohoma together accounted for nearly 40% of the total ferrous scrap exports by Japan during Jan-July ’16.

Meantime, official data indicates that domestic ferrous scrap consumption by basic oxygen convertors totaled 829,000 tonnes, rising significantly by 8.8% over the previous month. The consumption levels touched the highest level in almost two years. Also, consumption of ferrous scrap by electric furnace during July ’16 has declined sharply by nearly 6% over the previous month to total 1.959 million tons.