Taiwan's steel scrap imports tumbled 36% in July

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): According to latest trade data released by the Taiwan Directorate General of Customs, the country’s scrap steel imports during the month of July this year dropped sharply when compared with the imports during same month the previous year. The steel scrap imports by the country totaled 226,000 tons tons during the month. The imports were down by 36.4% when compared with the imports of 355,000 tons during July last year.

Taiwan’s major importing countries included the US, Japan and Hong Kong.

The US was the largest exporter of scrap steel to Taiwan during the month. The country’s imports from the US totaled 150,000 tons, accounting for over 66% of the total imports by Taiwan during the month. However, scrap steel imports from the US dropped sharply by 20.5% when matched with 189,000 tons imported during July last year.

The second largest exporter was Japan. The exports from Japan to Taiwan totaled 13,000 tons. The imports from Japan accounted for nearly 6% of the total imports by Taiwan during the month. The imports from Japan dropped heavily by 65.6% year-on-year. In third place was Hong Kong with 11,000 tons. Hong Kong’s market share in Taiwan’s yearly imports stood at nearly 5%. The imports from Hong Kong dropped significantly by 61.8% in comparison with the imports of 34,000 tons in July 2014.

The cumulative scrap steel imports by Taiwan during the seven-month period from January to July this year totaled 2.527 million tons. The imports during this period dropped slightly by 0.1% when matched with the imports during the corresponding seven-month period in 2014.

Taiwan’s monthly steel scrap imports averaged at 361,000 tons. The projected steel scrap imports by the country for the whole year 2015 now stands at 4.322 million tons.