According to statistics released by the Japan' Ministry of Finance, Japan imported 11,388 tonnes of stainless scrap in November 2011, decreasing by 25.2% MoM.

Among them, 4,357 tonnes were exported to the US, soaring by 16.8% MoM; 4,147 tonnes were to South Korea, decreasing by 29.1% MoM and 870 tonnes were to Taiwan, declining by 67.5% MoM.

It is analyzed that the declined imports of stainless scrap was caused by the fact that dropped exports pushed up the inventory in domestic market.

Meanwhile, the average import prices of stainless scrap were at JPY 163,085 per tonne in November 2011, down by 4.9% MoM.

In addition, the country's imports of stainless scrap in the first eleven months of 2011 totaled 147,803 tonnes.

(Sourced from www.yieh.com)