In the first quarter of this year, Japanese ferrous scrap exports amounted to 2.4 million mt, rising by 36.25 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year, according to customs statistics. A further increase in scrap exports is expected in the second quarter due to lower local demand which has been impacted by the pandemic, SteelOrbis understands. In March alone, the country exported 866,254 mt of scrap, up 49.9 percent year on year.
During the given period, the countries whose scrap imports from Japan increased the most are Taiwan and Vietnam with 302,870 mt and 829,004 mt, up 171.6 percent and 106.4 percent, respectively, both year on year. These increases offset the decline in scrap exports to South Korea, which decreased by 24.8 percent year on year to 842,288 mt. Meanwhile, Japanese exports to Bangladesh increased to 208,267 mt from 55,553 mt in the first quarter of 2019.