South Korean scrap imports declined 21% in Oct '14

SEOUL (Scrap Monster): As per the most recent data, the scrap imports by South Korea during the month of October this year dropped sharply over the previous year. Also, the scrap imports by the country during the initial ten-month period declined when compared with the imports during the corresponding period a year ago. The imports during the month hit the lowest level since January 2011.

The country’s total scrap imports during October this year amounted to 567,000 tons. The imports were down 20.6% when compared with the same month last year.

During October ‘14, Japan was the largest scrap exporter to Korea. The scrap imports from Japan totaled 297,000 tons, accounting for more than 52% of the country’s total scrap imports. The scrap imports from Japan increased by 11.4% year-on-year. The second largest exporter of scrap to South Korea was the US. The scrap imports by the country from the US totaled 90,000 tons, dropping sharply by 67.1% over the year.

The cumulative scrap imports by South Korea during the initial ten-month period during the year totaled 7.01 million tons, 8.3% lesser when compared with the imports during the corresponding ten-month period in 2013.

The South Korean scrap imports are estimated to total 8.40 million tons during the whole year 2014.