Japan Ferrous Scrap Export Rises by 36% in May

Japanese ferrous scrap export was 780,000 tonnes in May, which exceeded 700,000 tonnes for 2 months in a row and up by 8.3% from April and by 36.1% from a year earlier. The volume was second high after 852,000 tonnes in April 2005 and exceeded 720,000 tonnes in April 2006. The carbon steel scrap was 642,000 tonnes. The export to Taiwan renewed the record of 142,000 tonnes in July 2004. The export was 303,000 tonnes in May, which decreased by 5.6% from April and by 2.7% from a year earlier though the volume exceeded 300,000 tonnes for 2 months in a row. The export to China decreased by 11.8% to 232,000 tonnes from April. The export to Taiwan was 219,000 tonnes, which increased by 92.1% from April and by 1159.9% from a year earlier. The demand for Japanese scrap apparently increased when price of scrap from USA and Russia increased.