According to statistics released by Japan's Ministry of Finance, Japan's ferrous scrap exports totaled 892,011 metric tons in December 2012, rising by 21.3 percent month on month and up 40.4 percent compared to December 2011.
Meanwhile, in the whole of 2012 the country's scrap exports amounted to 8.6 million mt, increasing 58 percent over the previous year. Japan's scrap exports had seen a 15.6 percent year on year decline in 2011, due to the impact of the earthquake which hit Japan on March 11 of the same year.
In 2012, Japanese scrap exports to South Korea totaled 4.86 million metric tons, while exports to China amounted to 3.1 million metric tons, increasing by 70 percent and up 28.45 percent respectively, both compared to the previous year. Vietnam imported 2.8 million mt of steel scrap from Japan in 2012, indicated a very strong increase compared to the 38,360 mt of scrap imports recorded in 2011.