According to statistics released by Japan's Ministry of Finance, the country's ferrous scrap exports totaled 504,300 metric tons in October, increasing by 91.14 percent year on year, but down 23.19 percent over September.
In October this year, Japan's principal ferrous scrap export markets did not change, with 299,985 metric tons of scrap exports going to South Korea - down 11.97 percent over September and up two times compared to October 2008. Meanwhile, 187,925 metric tons of ferrous scrap went to China - down 38.12 percent month on month, but up 15.24 percent year on year. Ferrous scrap exports to South Korea accounted for 59 percent of Japan's total ferrous scrap exports, while exports to China constituted 37.26 percent of the total figure.
On the other hand, in the January-October period Japan exported 8.31 million metric tons of ferrous scrap, up 80.42 percent year on year. In the period in question, China increased its ferrous scrap imports from Japan by 123.32 percent to 4.44 million metric tons, while South Korea imported 3.31 million metric tons from the same source, up 44.94 percent, both compared to the corresponding period of 2008.