According to statistics released by
Japan's Ministry of Finance, the country's ferrous
scrap exports totaled 844,905 metric tons in February this year, rising by 38.01 percent month on month and up 1.78 percent compared to February 2009.
In the month in question,
China increased its ferrous
scrap imports from
Japan by 2.48 percent month on month to 248,141 metric tons, while a drop of 55.8 percent was registered compared to February 2009. South Korea imported 542,416 metric tons from the same source, up 50.31 percent month on month and up 134.79 percent year on year.
In the given month,
scrap exports to
China accounted for 29.37 percent of
Japan's total
scrap exports, while exports to South Korea constituted 64.2 percent of total
scrap exports.
The average export price of Japanese
scrap stood at JPY 37,663/mt ($399/mt) in February, increasing by 0.58 percent month on month and up 33.8 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in the first two months of 2010,
Japan's
scrap exports amounted to 1.46 million metric tons, declining by 1.16 percent year on year. In the January-February period,
scrap exports to
China totaled 490,268 metric tons, while exports to South Korea amounted to 903,206 metric tons, decreasing by 53.18 percent and up 140.71 percent respectively, both compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.