TOKYO: The Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) has published the country’s waste and scrap import statistics for the month of June this year. According to data, Japan imported 3,337 metric tons (MT) of ordinary steel scrap during June ’16. The largest exporter was South Korea with 3,200 MT. The other leading exporters of ordinary steel scrap during the month were Taiwan (42 MT), Cambodia (28 MT), Germany (23 MT) and Vietnam (22 MT). The price of overall imports averaged at $76.27 per MT.
The cumulative imports of ordinary steel scrap during the initial six-month period of the year totaled 20,335 metric tons. The import prices averaged at $99.75 per MT during this period. South Korea was the key exporter with imports from that country by Japan totaling 16,426 metric tons. The other primary sources of import were Taiwan (3,282 MT), Panama (159 MT), Hong Kong (127 MT) and Thailand (120 MT).
The country’s imports of waste and scrap of Stainless Steel totaled 9,933 metric tons in June ’16. The imports averaged at $1,115.24 per MT. South Korea accounted for over 50% of the total stainless steel scrap imports by Japan during the month. The imports from South Korea totaled 5,097 metric tons, followed by Taiwan (2,023 MT), the USA (1,142 MT), Thailand (476 MT) and Hong Kong (370 MT). The cumulative imports during the first half-yearly period of the year totaled 52,084 metric tons. The key offshore countries that constituted the imports of waste and scrap stainless steel during the six-month period were South Korea (25,339 MT), Taiwan (10,215 MT), the USA (7,578 MT) and Thailand (1,782 MT).