According to Japanese Ministry of Finance trade statistics, the country exported 727,000 mt of scrap in August on 2017 and approximately 652,000 mt in August of 2016, an 11.5 percent increase. August 2017 exports also increased 5.3 percent from approximately 690,400 mt in July. Including August, Japanese scrap exports encountered three consecutive month-on-month increases.
The top 2 destinations for Japanese scrap were South Korea (297,000 mt) and Vietnam (182,000 mt), accounting for a combined 65.9 percent of total shipments. The shipments in August 2017 to South Korea increased 9.1 percent while the shipments to Vietnam increased 55 percent, both against August 2016 shipments.
In comparison, according to the Japanese Ministry of Finance trade statistics, Japanese scrap imports reached only 11,000 mt in August 2017. Imports decreased by 15 percent when compared with August 2016.