Japan Integrated Steels Increase Ferrous Scrap Consumption

Japanese converter operations’ scrap usage rate hit the record 12.7% and increased by 1.2 percentage points in August compared with the same month of last year, according to Japan Ferrous Raw Materials Association. Japanese integrated steel makers increased the output and input volume of ferrous scrap into converters for the reduction of carbon dioxide emission.The converter operations’ scrap usage rate increased to 12.4% by 0.7 points in January-August from the same period of last year. The rate kept high level. The ferrous scrap consumption by converters increased by 10% to 8.025 million tonnes in January-August, which exceeded 1 million tonnes per month. The converter operations’ scrap usage rate kept over 12% for 11 consecutive months since October 2006. The ferrous scrap consumption by converter increased by 16.6% to 1.074 million tonnes in August, which exceeded 1 million tonnes for 2 consecutive months.The electric furnace steel makers raised the purchasing price of ferrous scrap in August though they reduced the output in summer season. Ferrous scrap supply kept tight mainly for high grade products in August because Japanese integrated steel makers increased the purchasing volume of ferrous scrap and the purchasing orders from overseas increased.