Japan: Ferrous Scrap Exports Climb 16% in February

Strong demand of Japanese scrap from overseas EAF steel mills has resulted in Japanese scrap exports to climb 16% M-o-M in Feb’18.

Japan – third largest exporter of ferrous scrap after EU-28 and US, witnessed rise in its ferrous scrap exports in Feb’18 as against exports recorded in Jan’18. As per recent customs data, Japan exported 0.66 MnT ferrous scrap in Feb’18 which have climbed up by 16% M-o-M as against 0.57 MnT ferrous scrap exports in Jan’18.

On yearly premises, ferrous scrap exports from Japan witnessed marginal fall of 6% Y-o-Y in Feb’18 as against 0.70 MnT ferrous scrap exports in the same month last year.

In the first two months of 2018, Japan exported 1.23 MnT ferrous scrap which was recorded at 1.33 MnT during the period of Jan-Feb’17. Japan exported 8.05 MnT ferrous scrap in 2017 as against 8.55 MnT scrap exports during 2016. South Korea occupied almost half share in Japan’s ferrous scrap exports in 2017.

Japan mainly exports special grade H2 scrap along with other preferred grades as SD, HS, Shindachi and H1. Major scrap export activities remain concentrated on ports like Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama in Japan.

South Korea remained largest importer of Japanese ferrous scrap –

In Feb’18, South Korea imported highest 0.39 MnT ferrous scrap from Japan. South Korea registered marginal growth of 3% M-o-M in its scrap imports from Japan. Followed by other prominent importers like Vietnam (0.14 MnT, +8% M-o-M), China (0.12 MnT, +200% M-o-M) and Taiwan (0.01 MnT, -50% M-o-M) respectively. Notably, China imported three fold scrap in Feb’18 as against 0.04 MnT in Jan’18.

During Jan-Feb’18 period, Japan exported highest 0.77 MnT ferrous scrap to South Korea. South Korean scrap imports have seen 15% Y-o-Y growth from Japan as against 0.67 MnT during Jan-Feb’17.Followed by Vietnam (0.27 MnT, +17% Y-o-Y), China (0.16 MnT, -43% Y-o-Y) and Taiwan (0.03 MnT, -57% Y-o-Y) respectively.

Japanese scrap export prices turned downward after reaching highest in mid of Jan’18. H2 scrap export prices remained falling every next week from JPY 37,500/MT, FoB Japan in mid of Jan’18 to JPY 34,000/MT in the mid of Feb’18. Low scrap prices in the domestic market and increased demand from leading steelmakers from leading importers could have resulted in an increase in scrap exports from Japan in Feb’18.

However, prices increased sharply after the mid of Feb’18 again following global scrap prices, amid high demand for Japanese scrap from South Korean steelmakers as well as domestic steel mills in Japan.

During first two months of 2018, Japan’s crude steel production remained almost stable as compared to crude steel production in Jan-Feb’17. As per statistics released by World Steel Association, Japan’s crude steel production recorded at 17.32 MnT during Jan-Feb’18 as against 17.34 MnT during the same time period of the last year.

Country-wise Japan ferrous scrap exports –

Quantity in MnT, 
Source: SteelMint Stats