By Anil Mathews
January 10, 2017 07:55:17 PM
TOKYO (Scrap Monster): According to latest scrap trade data published by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF), the country’s stainless steel scrap exports edged higher during the month of November this year. On the other hand, imports of stainless steel scrap witnessed decline during the month. Meantime, imports and exports of stainless steel products dropped during the month.
The Japanese stainless steel scrap exports totaled 14,824 tons during Nov ’16, significantly higher by 9% when matched with the month before. The country had exported 13,600 tons of stainless steel scrap during October last year. The largest importer of stainless steel scrap from Japan was South Korea. The exports to Korea totaled 8,151 tons, accounting for nearly 55% of the total exports out of the country. The exports to Korea were down by 17.5% when compared with the prior month. The other key importer was China with 2,465 tons. The stainless steel scrap exports to China registered 88% jump during the month. In third place was Thailand (1,704 tons, up 16.5% month-on-month).
Japan imported 7,460 tons of stainless steel scrap during November last year. The exports dropped by nearly 10% when compared with the prior month. The country’s stainless steel scrap imports had totaled 8,290 tons in October 2015. The largest supplier of stainless steel scrap during the month was South Korea. The imports from Korea dropped by one-fifth to total 3,502 tons. The second largest exporter was Taiwan. The imports from Taiwan tumbled by 30% month-on-month to 1,515 tons. In third place was the US. The imports from that country rose 9.6% over the previous month to 882 tons in Nov ’16. The cumulative stainless steel scrap imports by Japan during the initial eleven-month period of the year totaled 93,602 tons.
The data published by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Trade indicates that the country’s stainless steel products exports declined by over 13% year-on-year to 78,386 tons during November this year. Japan had exported 90,269 tons of such products during the same month a year before. The exports to all major destinations declined during the month. The exports to Taiwan fell the most, dropping by nearly 41% over the previous month. The exports to Korea were down by nearly 34%. Japan’s exports of stainless steel products to the US registered 16.3% decline over the previous month. The exports to China too dropped by 3.5% during the month.
The trade statistics released by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) shows that the country imported 19,666 tons of stainless steel products. The imports declined by 11.3% when compared with the previous month. Japan’s stainless steel products imports had totaled 22,164 tons in October last year. The imports from Taiwan rose 15% when matched with the previous month. On the other hand, stainless steel products imports from China and Korea declined by 39.7% and 14.7% respectively, month-on-month.
