Japan Ferrous Scrap Supply to Get Tighter in 1H F2008

Japanese ferrous scrap supply is likely to get tighter in first half of fiscal 2008 starting April compared with second half of fiscal 2007. The demand will increase from domestic makers and offshore buyers while the supply increase is expected to be limited. Japanese scrap consumption keeps increasing year to year. The consumption increased by 2.154 million tonnes to 52.557 million tonnes in 2007 from 2006 while the export decreased by 1.2 million tonnes to 6.449 million tonnes. Japanese integrated steel makers increased the consumption by 11% to reduce carbon dioxide emission. Offshore buyers increase the purchase of Japanese scrap. The largest buyer of South Korea is expected to increase the domestic consumption by around 3 million tonnes in years. They could increase the import from Japan to meet the higher demand.