Marubeni Corp., the nation's second-largest scrap steel trader, said its exports to China quadrupled in the past two months as demand improved in response to a planned government stimulus.
Monthly scrap exports in December and January were about 200,000 metric tons, up from the 50,000 tons typical of most months, said Kazuo Baba, a general manager at Marubeni's iron and steel materials trading unit Marubeni Tetsugen Co.
China, the world's largest steel consumer, plans to spend 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) to support its sagging economy by starting construction projects, including bridges and airports, and increasing metal consumption. Japanese scrap steel export prices in January surged 28 percent from a month ago.
"It appears that China's stimulus measures are gradually resuscitating steel demand," said Baba in an interview Wednesday in Tokyo. About 60 percent of the scrap was bought by steelmakers and the rest by trading houses, including Fengli Group Co., he said.
Benchmark Chinese steel prices have gained 40 percent from a six-year low after the government announced a stimulus package in November.
Japanese scrap export prices under January contracts rose 28 percent from a month earlier to ¥23,312 per ton, Kanto Tetsugen, the Tokyo-area scrap dealers' cooperative, said Jan. 14. It peaked at more than ¥70,000 last July.