Japan Stainless Scrap Price Drops

Japanese plate export increased by 19.9% to 351,389 tonnes in October from a year earlier, according to Ministry of Finance. The export represented year-to-year higher for 4 consecutive months. The export expanded by 40.9% to 191,268 tonnes for South Korea. South Korean shipbuilders seem to hold order backlogs received before the second half of 2008, though they are suffered from decrease of new orders and cancel of concluded orders. Plate demand from South Korean shipbuilders still keeps steady.The export unit price lowered by 4,000 yen to 62,000 yen per tonne in October from September.Japanese plate import decreased by 70.7% to 6,087 tonnes in October from a year earlier, which represented year-to-year decline for 10 straight months due to low domestic demand. The import from South Korea decreased by 65.3% to 4,183 tonnes.The import unit price rose by about 2,000 yen to 67,000 yen per tonne in October over the previous month.