Chinese Scrap Exports Saw Drastic Decline in October

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Chinese ferrous scrap exports recorded significant growth during the initial ten months of 2017 in comparison with the previous year, according to latest statistics released by the Chinese Customs authorities. However, the exports during the month of October alone recorded drastic decline when matched with the prior month.

The exports of ferrous scrap by China totaled 1.681 million tons during this period, significantly higher over the previous year. It must be noted that China had exported only 947 tons of ferrous scrap during the first ten months of 2016.

The leading destination of Chinese ferrous scrap exports during Jan-Oct ’17 was Indonesia. The country imported 451,183 tons of scrap from China, accounting for 26.8% of the total exports by China during this period. The exports to Thailand totaled 281,399 tons, representing 16.7% share of total Chinese exports. In third place was Taiwan with imports of 260,106 tons. Taiwan accounted for 15.5% share of exports. These top three destinations imported almost 60% of total Chinese ferrous scrap exports during Jan-Oct ’17. The other key importers were Vietnam (203,476 tons), India (113,417 tons), Malaysia (110,320 tons), Hong Kong (106,397 tons) and South Korea (76,952 tons).

Of late, China has emerged as a major exporter of ferrous scrap. The exports have been witnessing tremendous jump since April this year. The exports which had averaged at around 240 tons during Q1 this year rose sharply to 15,360 tons in April. In May, it further shot up to total 80,345 tons. In September, it had hit the peak of 508,120 tons.

In October this year, China exported 295,647 tons of ferrous scrap. This is significantly lower by nearly 42% from the September peak. The top export destination during the month was Indonesia. The exports to that country totaled 96,914 tons. In second and third place were Vietnam and South Korea with imports of 58,960 tons and 34,969 tons respectively.

The top three importers accounted for nearly 65% of the total Chinese monthly scrap exports. Among the top three export destinations, Indonesia and Vietnam reported month-on-month decline, whereas South Korea witnessed huge jump in import volumes. The import volumes by Indonesia plunged by nearly 40% from 162,047 tons imported in September. Imports by Vietnam too were down from 68,101 tons in Sep ’17. On the other hand, the South Korean imports of Chinese scrap more than tripled in comparison with Sep ’17 imports of 10,754 tons.

The other key importers during October 2017 were Malaysia (32,224 tons), Thailand (18,785 tons), India (15,510 tons) and Taiwan (10,288 tons).