Hong Kong's steel scrap exports jump 7.4% in September

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The latest statistics released by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department indicate that the country’s ferrous scrap exports increased modestly in September this year, upon comparison with the previous month. Also, cumulative scrap exports by the country during the initial nine-month period of the year were up marginally by 2.3% when matched with the corresponding period in 2015.

Hong Kong exported 103,060 tons of scrap steel during the month of September this year. The exports were up by 7.4% when matched with the previous month. The country had exported 95,953 tons of scrap steel during August 2016. The exports have registered month-on-month rise for the first time in two months, the country’s Statistics Department noted.

The biggest importer of ferrous scrap from Hong Kong during September this year was Vietnam. The imports by Vietnam from Hong Kong totaled 38,780 tons, accounting for more than 37% of the total scrap exports by Hong Kong during the month. The imports from Hong Kong witnessed marginal rise of 1.6% from August ’16. China was the second largest importer during the month, with 30,307 tons. The ferrous scrap exports to China from Hong Kong surged higher by nearly 30% over the previous month. In third place was Indonesia with 16,089 tons. The other key importers of ferrous scrap from Hong Kong during the month were Taiwan (7,133 tons), India (6,629 tons) and Thailand (2,562 tons).

The country exported 978,252 tons of scrap steel during the initial nine-month period of the year. The imports were up marginally by 2.3% when compared with the net export volume of 956,489 tons during the period from January to September in 2015. The monthly exports averaged at 108,695 tons so far this year. At the current rate, the country’s scrap steel exports are estimated to total around 1.30 million tons during the entire year 2016.

The largest importer of ferrous scrap from Hong Kong during the initial nine-month period of the year was Vietnam. The imports by Vietnam totaled 391,081 tons, accounting for nearly 40% share of the total exports by the country during the period. The imports from Hong Kong increased modestly by over 6% from the previous year. Vietnam had imported 368.590 tons during Jan-Sep in 2015. China was the second largest export destination during the first nine months of the current year. China’s ferrous scrap imports from Hong Kong totaled 195,600 tons, accounting for 20% share of Hong Kong’s total exports during the period. The exports to China dropped by nearly 7% year-on-year. In third place was Indonesia with 12.6% share of total Hong Kong exports. The exports to Indonesia increased significantly by 12.4% to 122,802 tons when matched with the exports of 109,243 tons in Jan-Sep ’15. The other key importers of ferrous scrap from Hong Kong a during the nine-month period were Taiwan (115,002 tons), India (92,672 tons), Thailand (24,043 tons) and Pakistan (12,912 tons).

The table below provides the summary of Hong Kong’s ferrous scrap exports during the year-to-date period.