US Copper Scrap Exports Report 12% Growth in H1 2017

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  The latest trade statistics released by the US Census Bureau and US International Trade Commission indicates significant surge in copper scrap exports by the US during the initial half of 2017. The data for the first six months of the current year indicates that exports were up by nearly 12% upon comparison with the corresponding half-yearly period last year.

As per data, the exports of copper and copper alloy scrap by the US during Jan-Jun ’17 just managed to just exceed half-a-million tonnes. The exports totaled 500,114 tonnes, significantly higher by 11.6% over the previous year. The US exports of copper and copper alloy scrap had totaled 448,131 tonnes during the first six months of 2016.

The top two recipients of US scrap copper exports were China and Canada. These two countries together accounted for 395,607 tonnes, which in other terms is equivalent to almost 80% of the total US copper scrap exports during Jan-June ’17.

The key destination of US copper scrap export was China. The Chinese imports totaled 343,571 tonnes, accounting for nearly 69% of total US exports during this period. When compared with the previous year, Chinese imports registered notable increase of 13.4%. The Chinese imports during the first six months of 2016 had totaled only 302,926 tonnes.

The second largest importer of copper scrap from the US was Canada. The US scrap deliveries to Canada increased significantly by 41.3% over the year to 52,036 tonnes. The transaction volume during the corresponding six-month period last year had totaled only 36,823 tonnes.

The country to record sharpest year-on-year rise in scrap import volume from the US was Hong Kong. The US deliveries to Hong Kong skyrocketed by nearly 69% from 11,946 tonnes during Jan-June ’16 to as high as 20,171 tonnes during the first six months of the current year. On the other hand, scrap exports to Germany witnessed sharp decline of almost 21% year-on-year. The US copper scrap shipments to Germany totaled 13,407 tonnes during the initial half of 2017.

Meantime, the country’s nickel scrap exports declined sharply in June this year. The exports were down by 21% when compared with the prior month. The US nickel scrap exports totaled around 1,963 tons in June 2017.

The US nickel scrap exports to Canada totaled 1,094 tons, falling sharply by over 37% month-on-month. The exports to India surged higher by 23% over the previous month to 423.6 tons. In third place was Sweden with imports of 112.8 tons. The US nickel scrap exports to Sweden increased by 17.3% when compared with the previous month.