Japan stainless steel scrap imports declined further in Mar 2015

Author: Paul Ploumis
11 May 2015 Last updated at 02:46:48 GMT
TOKYO (Scrap Monster): According to latest statistics released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF), the country’s imports of stainless steel scrap dropped further during the month of March this year.

The imports during the month jumped declined by nearly 2% when compared with the previous month. The stainless steel scrap imports by Japan totaled 6,395 tons in March. Japan had imported 6,524 tons of stainless steel scrap during the month of February this year.

During the month of March, the largest exporter stainless steel scrap to Japan was South Korea. The exports from South Korea totaled 4,193 tons. The Japanese imports from South Korea increased nearly 5% when compared with the imports of 3,992 tons during Feb ‘15. In second place was the US with total exports of 1,030 tons. The stainless steel scrap exports from the US to Japan dropped sharply by 31.74% month-on-month from 1,509 tons. The imports from South Korea and the US accounted for 65% and 16% respectively of the total imports by the country during March.

The country’s stainless steel scrap exports during the initial three-month period of the year totaled 22,250 tons.

Meanwhile, the average price of imported stainless steel scrap witnessed 5.2% rise over the previous month. The prices of stainless steel scrap imports during the month averaged at ￥187,691/ton.

As per industry experts, the stainless steel scrap purchasing prices are likely to witness further weakness in the months to come.