Japan Ferrous Scrap Demand Rises by 5.3% in 2006

Japanese ferrous scrap consumption increased by 5.3% to 49.217 million tonnes by converters, electric furnaces, castings and other usages in 2006 from 2005, according to Japan Ferrous Raw Materials Association. The converters’ consumption increases year by year when integrated steel makers increase the consumption as a part of environmental action along with the output increase. The converters increased the scrap consumption by 6.3% to 11.162 million tonnes in 2006 from 2005. The consumption increased by 5.2% to 31.186 million tonnes by electric furnaces and by 3.9% to 6.869 million tonnes by castings and other usages. The scrap supply increased by 2.9% to 50.988 million tonnes in 2006 from 2005. The supply decreased by 0.2% to 15.048 million tonnes from steel makers while the scrap generation from domestic market increased by 4.3% to 35.94 million tonnes. The scrap consumption decreased by 2.9% to 4.391 million tonnes in December from November. The consumption increased by 4.3% to 1.014 million tonnes by converters while the consumption decreased by 8.1% to 2.667 million tonnes by electric furnaces and by 7.1% to 573,000 tonnes by castings and others. The scrap supply increased by 1.1% to 4.549 million tonnes in December from November. The supply decreased by 0.4% to 1.29 million tonnes from steel makers while the scrap generation from domestic market increased by 1.8% to 3.259 million tonnes.