Japan's Oct scrap imports soared 126% over previous month

The latest data published by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) suggests a significant rise in the scrap imports by the country during the month of October this year

TOKYO (Scrap Monster) : The latest data published by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) suggests a significant rise in the scrap imports by the country during the month of October this year. The imports during the month jumped both year-on-year and month-on-month.

Japan’s total scrap imports during October this year amounted to 28,100 tons, up by 125.6% over the previous month and up by 47.8% over the same month last year.

The main scrap exporter to Japan was Korea. The Japanese scrap imports from Korea were up 29.6% to 6,700 tons. The next largest scrap exporter to Japan was Thailand with 5,900 tons, up 1067.3% year-on-year. In third place was Hong Kong. The scrap imports from Hong Kong surged by 1200% to reach 4,400 tons in October.

The cumulative scrap imports by Japan during the initial ten-month period of the year totaled 170,400 tons. The scrap imports during the period from January to October this year declined by 16.4% when compared with the imports during the corresponding period in 2012.

During this period, the largest scrap exporter to Japan was Korea. The Japanese scrap imports from Korea were up 12.3% to 64,500 tons. The next largest scrap exporter to Japan was Thailand with 31,500 tons, down 28.5% year-on-year. In third place was the US. The scrap imports from the US fell by 36.1% to reach 25,400 tons in October.