CBFC: Imports, Exports of US Brass mill products declined in July '16

ALBANY (Scrap Monster): According to the Copper and Brass Fabricators Council (CBFC), the imports of brass mill products by the US during the month of July this year have dropped considerably over the previous year. Also, exports registered sharp decline year-on-year during the month.

July ’16 Imports

According to data, the US imports of brass mill products during July this year totaled 42.291 million lb, down significantly by 3.1% when compared with 43.642 million lb imports registered during July 2015.

The main exporter of brass mill products to the US during July was Germany. The total imports from Germany during the month totaled 9.710 million lb. Canada followed Germany with total exports to US amounting to 4.137 million lb. In third place was South Korea. The brass mill products imports by the US from South Korea totaled 4.125 million lb during the month. The other key exporters were Mexico (3.980 million lb) and Vietnam (2.932 million lb).

Imports by Product Type

Imports of all sheet, strip, plate and foil products totaled 13.896 million lb in July. All pipe and tube products imports totaled 15.511 million lb. Imports of all profiles, rods and bars totaled 9.458 million lb. Copper alloy wire imports totaled 3.426 million lb.

July ’16 Exports

In accordance with the data released by the CBFC, the US exports of brass mill products totaled 18.710 million lb in July this year, significantly lower by 9.2% when matched with the exports of 20.616 million lb during July 2015.

The key export destination for US brass mill products during July ’16 was Mexico. The exports to Mexico totaled 7.578 million lb. The other key importers of US brass mill products during the month were Canada (5.048 million lb), China (879,499 lb), Saudi Arabia (506,423 lb) and Germany (423,263 lb).

Exports by Product Type

Exports of all sheet, strip, plate and foil products totaled 7.315 million lb in July this year. All pipe and tube products exports totaled 3.394 million lb. Exports of all profiles, rods and bars totaled 6.332 million lb. Copper alloy wire exports totaled 1.669 million lb.

Year-to-date Imports/Exports

For the first seven months of the year, US imported 273.564 million lb of brass mill products. This is 10.3% lower when compared with the imports of 304.984 million lb in the same year-ago period. Exports during the initial seven months of 2016 totaled 187.405 million lb, compared with 149.694 million lb in the same 2015 period, an increase of nearly 25%.

The CBFC noted that the export data for three months-February, March and April are likely to contain approximately 45 million pounds of products wrongly classified as copper rod and bar by importers/brokers. An inquiry has been initiated into the matter so as to remove this error from the Year-To-Date data at the earliest.

The table below provides the details of imports of brass mill products during the initial seven months of the current year.

The details of exports of brass mill products during January to July this year are as follows:-

About CBFC

The Copper and Brass Fabricators Council is a non-profit membership trade association open to any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the fabrication or production in the United States of products made, in whole or in part, from copper or copper alloys. 

Generally, the member companies are engaged in the production of copper and copper alloy sheet and strip, rod and bar, plumbing tubing, OEM or air-conditioning tubing, wire, extrusions, shapes and profiles, forgings, and fittings.  These products are used chiefly in the automotive, construction, and electrical/electronic industries. 

There are currently nineteen member companies who produce over 80% of all copper and brass mill products produced in the United States.