Ferrous scrap imports by Malaysia plunged by 78% during Q1 2016

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The most recent data published by the Malaysian Department of Statistics suggest significant drop in ferrous scrap imports by the country during the first quarter of the current year. The monthly imports remained below 20,000 tons for the third consecutive month. The monthly ferrous scrap imports dropped heavily during March this year.

As per statistics, the imports totaled 15,000 tons during March this year. This is significantly down by almost 85% year-on-year. The country’s scrap imports had totaled around 1 million tons during March last year. However, the imports were up when matched with the previous month. Month-on-month, the country’s ferrous scrap imports surged higher by over 17%. The cumulative imports during Q1 2016 have dropped by 77.5% over the previous year to total around 45,000 tonnes.

The largest exporter of ferrous scrap to Malaysia during the initial three-month period of the year was Singapore. The imports from Singapore totaled 17,000 tons, accounting for 38.2% of the total imports by the country during the quarter. The imports from Singapore dropped sharply by over 71% from the previous year. The United States was the second largest import source during the quarter. Malaysia’s ferrous scrap imports from the US totaled around 12,000 tons, accounting for 26.1% share of the country’s imports during the month. The imports from the US dropped heavily by over 66% year-on-year.

Going by the current rate, the country’s scrap imports are likely to total around 1.8 million tons during the entire year 2016.

The Malaysian ferrous scrap imports had totaled 12,847 tons in February this year. The imports during the month were down by over 45% when matched with the year-ago month. When matched with the previous month, Feb ’16 imports were down by 23.5%. The primary exporters of ferrous scrap to Malaysia during the month were Singapore (5,931 tons), Japan (2,958 tons), Australia (1,578 tons) and the US (1,095 tons).

The country’s ferrous scrap imports during January this year had totaled 16,787 tons. The key suppliers during the month were Singapore (6,016 tons), the USA (4,489 tons), Latvia (2,010 tons), the UK (1,959 tons), Australia (973 tons), Japan (394 tons), New Zealand (258 tons) and Papua New Guinea (203 tons).

The cumulative steel scrap imports by Malaysia during the entire year 2015 totaled 446,000 tons. The yearly imports during the year had hit the lowest level since 1998. The imports during the year dropped sharply by almost 54% when matched with the imports during 2014. The Malaysian steel scrap imports during 2014 had totaled 963,000 tons. 

Meantime, the latest forecast published by the World Steel Association states that the steel demand in five ASEAN countries including Malaysia is likely to grow by 6% in 2017. Correspondingly, steel production and scrap steel imports are expected to go higher during the next year. The report cites that infrastructure construction will lead to increased steel, consumption in the five ASEAN countries-Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. It projects the steel consumption in these countries to total 74.6 million tons in 2017.