Scrap metal cargoes from Japan have been refused entry into South Korea over the past two weeks after the country's customs started asking for certificates to prove radiation levels, sources told Fastmarkets.
South Korea has also stepped up radiation checks on Japanese ferrous scrap imports, with inspectors reportedly boarding "every single vessel transporting Japanese ferrous scrap... to carry out very strict radiation checks," a Japanese scrapyard source told Fastmarkets on Thursday August 8. "It is not only ferrous metal vessels, but all containers of non-ferrous scrap were affected, and Korean buyers don't know exactly what type of document they need for the cargoes to get through," a Japanese scrap trader source said. Common non-ferrous imports from Japan to South Korea include aluminium cans and some lower quality copper scrap, such as insulated copper wires (ICW), motor scrap and brass turnings. Fastmarkets has been unable to obtain official figures for the volume of cargoes...