Stronger demand and higher prices in the Japanese domestic steel scrap market pulled down exports of the material by 22.1% year on year in 2021, statistics from the Japan Iron and Steel Recycling Institute (Jisri) showed.
Steel use in Japan is forecast to rise in 2022 but will fall short of consumption volumes recorded before 2020, Kazuo Mike Fujisawa, principal of global business development at Japanese steelmaker JFE Steel's Overseas Business Planning Department, said this week.
A large gap between bids and offers ensured that only limited business took place in the Japan steel scrap export market over the past week, sources said on Wednesday June 2.
Prices for steel scrap cargoes exported from Japan rose again during the week to Wednesday May 19 amid a healthy appetite from both South Korea and domestic buyers, market participants told Fastmarkets.
JAPAN STEEL SCRAP: Export prices jump again following rise in Kanto auction The jump in Kanto Tetsugen auction prices has led to another increase in the Japanese export price for steel scrap over the past week, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 12. Tuesday’s auction by Kanto Tetsugen, which is a cooperative of scrap dealers in the Tokyo region, closed its monthly H2 grade scrap export price at an increase of ¥5,899 ($54) per tonne month on month, with the highest bid price at ¥49,279 ($453) per tonne fas for a volume of 5,000 tonnes.
The two highest bids, both for 5,000 tonnes, were by a Japanese trading company which sources said was backed by a Chinese consortium. It was not known into which markets the cargo would be delivered.