Japanese April nickel ore imports surge by 40%, says government data

Metal Recycling News  |  2013-06-03 02:27:26   |   By Paul Ploumis

According to the recently released government data, the Japanese nickel-ore imports have surged considerably during the month of April on year-on-year comparison

TOKYO (Scrap Monster) : According to the recently released government data, the Japanese nickel-ore imports have surged considerably during the month of April on year-on-year comparison.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Finance, the country’s total imports of nickel ore during the month of April amounted to 507,102 tons. The imports are up 0.4% month-on-month. In comparison with same month the previous year, the imports have jumped by 40.35%.

The cumulative nickel ore imports by the country during the first four months of the year 2013 totaled 1.7 million tons. The imports have shown 31% improvement over the same period of four months in 2012.

The major import sources of Japan during the period were Indonesia, Philippines and New Caledonia. The imports from Indonesia accounted for more than 50% of the total imports by the country. The total imports from Indonesia during the initial four months of the year touched 875,030 tons, surging 37% year-on-year. The second largest exporter of nickel ore to Japan was the Philippines. The country’s imports from the Philippines recorded a growth of 12.5% year-on-year to reach 483,862 tons. The imports from New Caledonia also witnessed a sharp rise of 48% to 371,555 tons during the four-month period in 2013 in comparison with 2012.

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