Japan's Stainless Steel Scrap Exports See 40% Plunge in August

By Anil Mathews

TOKYO (Scrap Monster): According to latest statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF), the country’s stainless steel scrap imports surged higher significantly during the month of August this year. The monthly imports witnessed sharp decline of over 40% over the prior month. It must be noted that the exports had registered almost 16% jump during July this year.

The exports during the month totaled 9,807 tons, falling sharply by 40.7% when matched with the imports of 16,532 tons during July ’16. The major importer of Japanese stainless steel scrap during the month was South Korea. The exports to South Korea totaled 5,851 tons, accounting for almost 60% share of Japanese exports. However, the exports declined significantly by 43% over the previous month. The exports to Taiwan dropped by 23.8% month-on-month to 3,032 tons. The other key importers during the month were Thailand (447 tons, down 75.7%) and India (295 tons, up 220%).

The cumulative stainless steel scrap exports by the country totaled 97,173 tons during the initial eight months of 2016.

Exports-July ‘16

Japan exported 16,532 tons of stainless steel scrap during July this year. The exports were up by 15.9% when matched with the month before. The country had exported 14,264 tons of stainless steel scrap during June this year.

The exports averaged at $762.59 per MT. South Korea accounted for over 60% of the total stainless steel scrap exports by Japan during the month. The imports by South Korea totaled 10,218 metric tons, followed by Taiwan (3,978 MT), Thailand (1,840 MT), China (292 MT) and India (135 MT).

The cumulative exports during the first seven-month period of the year totaled 87,366 metric tons. The key offshore countries that constituted the exports of scrap stainless steel during the seven-month period were South Korea (48,154 MT), Taiwan (27,224 MT), Thailand (7,337 MT) and China (2,053 MT).

Meantime, latest MoF data 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.

The ferrous scrap exports by Japan totaled 647,435 tonnes 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 totaled 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.

A recent survey conducted by the Japan Iron and Steel Recycling Institute suggests that country’s domestic scrap market continued to remain stable during the month of September this year. The domestic scrap prices have remained more or less unchanged. The scrap inventory levels continue to stay at lower levels, the survey noted. The scrap export prices are seen witnessing pressure, in tandem with other export markets.