Import, Export of Copper and Brass Mill Products declined in 2016

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): According to the Copper and Brass Fabricators Council (CBFC), the imports of copper and brass mill products by the US during the month of December last year has increased significantly when matched with the year before that. Also, exports registered modest rise year-on-year during the month. On the other hand, imports and exports of copper and brass mill products declined during the full year 2016.

December ’16 Imports

According to data, the US imports of copper and brass mill products during December last year totaled 35.436 million lb, significantly higher by 6.3% when compared with 33.349 million lb imports registered during December 2015.

The main exporter of brass mill products to the US during December 2016 was Germany. The total imports from Germany during the month totaled 9.765 million lb. South Korea followed Germany with total exports to US amounting to 3.124 million lb. In third place was Mexico. The brass mill products imports by the US from Mexico totaled 3.056 million lb during the month. The other key exporters were Vietnam (2.985 million lb) and Canada (2.656 million lb).

Imports by Product Type

Imports of all sheet, strip, plate and foil products totaled 13.540 million lb in December. All pipe and tube products imports totaled 11.983 million lb. Imports of all profiles, rods and bars totaled 7.170 million lb. Copper alloy wire imports totaled 2.744 million lb.

December ’16 Exports

In accordance with the data released by the CBFC, the US exports of copper and brass mill products totaled 17.534 million lb in December last year, significantly up by nearly 5.6% when matched with the exports of 16.599 million lb during December 2015.

The key export destination for US brass mill products during December ’16 was Mexico. The exports to Mexico totaled 7.150 million lb. The other key importers of US brass mill products during the month were Canada (4.374 million lb), China (1.593 million lb), South Korea (878,467 lb) and Germany (482,245 lb).

Exports by Product Type

Exports of all sheet, strip, plate and foil products totaled 7.279 million lb in December last year. All pipe and tube products exports totaled 2.667 million lb. Exports of all profiles, rods and bars totaled 5.483 million lb. Copper alloy wire exports totaled 2.106 million lb.

Full year 2016 Imports/Exports

For the whole year 2016, US imported 456.390 million lb of copper and brass mill products. This is 6.0% lower when compared with the imports of 484.825 million lb in the year before that. Exports during the year 2016 totaled 241.047 million lb, compared with 244.103 million lb in 2015, recording a marginal year-on-year decline of nearly 1.2%.

The table below provides the details of imports of copper and brass mill products during the entire year 2016.

The details of exports of copper and brass mill products during January to December last 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.