By Anil Mathews (ScrapMonster Author)
February 29, 2016 06:20:32 AM
TOKYO (Scrap Monster): The latest monthly statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry suggests that local purchases of ferrous scrap by the country’s steel mills dropped heavily during the month of November last year.
The total ferrous scrap purchases by Japanese steel industry amounted to 1.812 million tons during the month, significantly lower by 10.5% when matched with the same month a year before. Out of this, carbon steel scrap constituted 1.689 million tons. The purchases of carbon steel scrap dropped by 11% year-on-year. Alloy steel scrap imports accounted for 86,000 tons, whereas pig iron scrap constituted 36,000 tons.
The home arisings of carbon steel scrap dropped by over 5% during the month to 734,000 tons. Also, 125,000 tons of alloy steel scrap was produced locally during the month, down significantly by 11.2% when compared with the year before. The arisings of pig iron scrap plunged slightly by nearly 3% to 33,000 tons.
The scrap consumption by Japanese steel industry totaled 2.886 million tons during November last year. The consumption levels have dropped by 7.4% when matched with Nov ’14. Basic oxygen converters consumed 696,000 tons of carbon steel, 26,000 tons of alloy steel scrap and 28,000 tons of pig iron scrap. The consumption of carbon steel scrap, alloy steel scrap and pig iron scrap totaled 1,913,000 tons, 164,000 tons and 39,000 tons respectively.
The carbon steel scrap inventory levels with steel makers totaled 2.421 million tons at the end of November last year. The stock levels were up by almost 10% when compared with the same month a year before. The alloy steel scrap inventory levels dropped sharply by 10% to 428,000 tons. Meantime, the stock levels of pig iron scrap declined marginally by 3.4% year-on-year to 210,000 tons.
