Major Asian countries report significant decline in steel scrap exports

SEOUL (Scrap Monster): The latest trade data published by various Asian countries suggest significant drop in ferrous scrap export volumes.

The most recent data released by the Korea Customs and Trade Development Institution indicates that ferrous scrap exports by the country dropped significantly during the month of August this year. The exports were down by 43.1% when matched with the previous month. The export volume hit the lowest level since March this year. When compared with the exports during same month the previous year, Aug ’16 exports were up by 23.3%.

The country’s scrap exports totaled 33,000 tons during the month, as compared with the exports of 58,000 tons during July 2016. The largest export destination of Korean scrap during the month was China. The scrap exports from Korea to China during the month totaled nearly 14,000 tons, accounting for over 42% of total scrap exports by Korea during the month. The exports to China increased sharply by nearly 43% year-on-year during August this year. The exports to Vietnam jumped higher by almost five-folds to 6,000 tons during the month.

The Russian ferrous scrap exports during the month of July alone totaled 512,868 tons. The exports witnessed marginal decline of nearly 6% year-on-year. When matched with June this year, the scrap exports by the country during July ‘16 were up by nearly 6.2%. The Russian steel scrap exports had totaled 482,812 tons in June this year.

The largest importer of Russian scrap during July this year was Turkey. The Russian exports to Turkey totaled 218,689 tons, accounting for nearly 43% of the total Russian exports. The exports to Turkey jumped higher significantly by 54.2% year-on-year. The second largest export destination was South Korea. The Russian exports to South Korea jumped higher by 8.8% over the previous year to 124,679 tons. In third place was Belarus with 100,197 tons.

The statistics released by Ukrainian authorities indicates considerable decline in ferrous scrap shipments out of the country. The exports witnessed sharp decline from 112,577 tons in May ’16 to 26,780 tons in June. The country did not export scrap during the months of July and August. The cumulative exports during the initial eight months of the current year totaled 233,378 tons, significantly down by over 76% when compared with the exports during Jan-Aug ’15. The value of scrap exports during Jan-Aug ’16 amounted to nearly $41 million.

According to latest data published by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF), ferrous scrap exports by Japan totaled 647,435 tonnes during July 2016. The exports declined by 13.6% when matched with those during July last year. The largest importer of Japanese scrap during the month of July this year was South Korea. The scrap imports by South Korea totaled 360,000 tons, constituting nearly 56% of the total scrap exports by Japan during the month. The scrap exports to South Korea dropped sharply by 16.4% over the previous year. In second place was China with scrap steel imports from Japan totaling to 157,000 tons. The exports to China surged significantly higher by nearly 20.9% year-on-year.

Meantime, the country’s stainless steel exports totaled 9,807 tons during August this year, falling sharply by 40.7% when matched with the imports of 16,532 tons during July ’16. South Korea accounted for 60% share of Japanese exports, importing 5,851 tons. The other key export destinations were Thailand (447 tons) and India (295 tons).