By Anil Mathews (ScrapMonster Author)

March 17, 2016 06:56:02 AM

TOKYO (Scrap Monster): According to latest statistics released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF), the country’s imports of stainless steel scrap rebounded significantly during the month of January this year.

The imports during the month increased sharply by 22.21% when compared with the previous month. The stainless steel scrap imports by Japan totaled 8,857 tons in January. Japan had imported 7,247 tons of stainless steel scrap during the month of December last year.

During the month of January, the largest exporter stainless steel scrap to Japan was South Korea. The exports from South Korea totaled 3,965 tons. The Japanese imports from South Korea dropped marginally by 1.6% when compared with the imports of 4,029 tons during Dec ‘15. In second place was the United States with total exports of 1,749 tons. The stainless steel scrap exports from the US to Japan skyrocketed by more than 132% month-on-month from 772 tons. The imports from South Korea and the US accounted for 45% and 20% respectively of the total imports by the country during January. In third place was Taiwan with 1,524 tons. The imports from Taiwan were up by 12.4% over the previous month.

The country’s stainless steel scrap exports during the whole year 2015 had totaled 89,951 tons. South Korea was the largest exporter of stainless steel scrap to Japan during the year. The imports from South Korea totaled 51,624 tons, accounting for more than 57% of the annual imports by the country. Japan’s stainless steel scrap imports from other countries during the year were: the USA (14,899 tons), Taiwan (12,178 tons), Indonesia (2,584 tons), Thailand (2,285 tons) and Singapore (2,214 tons).