Japan

Domestic prices for recycled steel fell by around Yen 10,000 per tonne in the period from mid-July and remained weak towards the end of September. A combination of factors, including a decline in domestic demand and the global appreciation of the yen, has triggered this significant price drop. The sluggish export market has had a particularly large impact: negotiated export prices are falling at a faster rate than the domestic market price. This has weakened inquiries from Gulf trading companies and shippers, leading to recycled steel remaining inside the country and exacerbating the sense of surplus supply.

The Kanto tender on September 11 for 15,000 tonnes was won with a bid of Yen 42,720 per tonne - a drop of Yen 5236 from the previous month and the lowest in 25 months since the Yen 42,061 recorded in August 2022. This was also the first month-on-month price decrease exceeding Yen 5000 since the Yen 9006 slump in July 2022.

According to trade statistics from the Japanese Ministry of Finance, exports of recycled steel amounted to 492,177 tonnes in August, down 13.7% from the previous month and 13.2% from the same month last year. This was the first time in four months that the total had fallen below 500,000 tonnes.

The Japan Iron and Steel Federation has confirmed that August’s domestic crude steel production was down 3.2% from the previous month and 3.9% from the same month last year at just under 6.87 million tonnes. This marks the sixth consecutive month in which production was lower than in the corresponding month of 2023, and the first time since February 2024 that it was below 7 million tonnes.