In May this year, Japanese ferrous scrap exports amounted to 687,060 mt, rising by 32.4 percent compared to 518,833 mt in the same month of the previous year, according to customs statistics. In the January-May period of this year, the country exported 4 million mt of scrap, rising by 37.7 percent year on year. This year-on-year increase in scrap exports resulted from the significant rise in demand from Vietnam, Taiwan and Bangladesh, SteelOrbis understands.
During the given period, ex-Japan scrap shipments to South Korea declined by almost 23.5 percent year on year to 1.37 million mt, though the country remained the biggest importer of Japanese scrap. South Korea was followed by Vietnam and Taiwan, importing 1.3 million mt and 541,678 mt of scrap, up 79.7 percent and 182 percent, respectively, year on year. Meanwhile, Japanese scrap exports to Bangladesh increased to 354,068 mt in the first five months of the current year, up from 55,553 mt in the same period of the previous year.