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[Ferro-Alloys.com]Japan's ferrous scrap exports continued to recover in April on sustained demand from South Korea.
The country exported around 665,000t of ferrous scrap in April, up by 8.2pc on the month and the highest since July 2021, but exports over January-April fell by 24pc from last year to 2.1 mn t, Japan customs data showed.
Demand from South Korea was the main factor supporting theJapanese scrap export business, accounting for 55.1pc of total April exports. Domestic scrap prices in South Korea were on an uptrend and stayed elevated in the first quarter, with the importing of Japanese scrap remaining profitable for steelmakers.
Exports to other destinations in the first four months of this year halved from the same period in 2021, because Japanese scrap was more expensive than material from other origins.
Japanese domestic scrap prices were firmer than export prices since the middle of last year, on more robust manufacturing activities. The au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) was at 53.3 in May, hitting the top 10pc of the PMI values assessed over the past decade. Higher domestic consumption also resulted in tighter supplies of ferrous scrap for export.
The seaborne scrap market experienced a sharp decline in April, with prices falling back to levels seen at the end of last year, while Japanese domestic scrap prices are currently around 7pc higher thanprices atthe beginning of the year. The widening gap between the domestic and export markets will result in lower export volumes in May.
Japanese crude steel production fell by 3.3pc across January-April, with the decrease being attributed to a drop in blast furnace mill activities even though production rates from electric arc furnace increased by 0.9pc in the same period.argusmedia.com
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- [Editor:kangmingfei]
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