Japan's Scrap Exports Skyrocketed; Imports Dipped

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest trade data published by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) suggests sharp spike in scrap exports by the country during the month of October this year. On the contrary, the scrap imports witnessed notable decline.

The Japanese scrap exports totalled around 920,000 tons in Oct ’20, which is the highest level in almost 11 months. Upon comparison with the same month a year before, the exports were down considerably by over 35%.

The primary scrap export destination was Vietnam. The country imported 366,000 tons of scrap from Japan, higher by 86% over the previous year. The other two key importers were South Korea and Bangladesh, whose imports from Japan totalled 286,000 tons and 154,000 tons respectively. The cumulative exports during Jan-Oct ’20, at around 7.95 million tons, were up by almost 28% from the similar period last year.

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Meantime, the Japanese scrap imports amounted to 5,000 tons, down by 21.3% from Oct ’19. The key supplier was South Korea. The country imported nearly 40,000 tons of scrap during the first ten months of 2020.

Vietnam imported 550,000 tons of scrap in October. This represents an increase of 22% from the prior year. Most of the imports were from Japan. The imports from Japan totalled 320,000 tons. The other two largest suppliers were the U.S. and Australia, whose supplies totalled 100,000 tons and 50,000 tons respectively.