Exports of Scrap Iron and Steel by the U.S. Surged 33%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The exports of scrap iron and steel by the US surged higher significantly by 33% during the initial two months of the current year. The imports of the material during Jan-Feb ’18 too soared by 17% over the previous year, said latest trade statistics published by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The US exported $922.68 million worth of scrap iron and steel during the first two months of 2018, which is considerably higher by 33% when compared with the year-ago period. The country’s exports of scrap iron and steel had totaled only $691.9 million during Jan-Feb ’17.

The primary destination of scrap iron and steel exports from the US was Turkey. The other key importers were China, Mexico, Taiwan and Vietnam in that order. The exports to these top five market destinations totaled $573.11 million, representing over 62% share of all scrap iron and steel exports from the U.S.

Nearly 22% of US scrap iron and steel exports during the two-month period were to Turkey. The Turkish imports through February almost doubled over the previous year to total $202.38 million. China emerged as the second largest importer. However, the U.S export volume to China witnessed 10% year-on-year decline to $116.45 million. In third place was Mexico with imports totaling $104.96 million, followed by Taiwan ($99.44 million) and Vietnam ($49.89 million).

Meantime, imports of scrap iron and steel too were up sharply by 17% to $259.43 million through February this year, when compared with the same period the previous year. The U.S. imports had totaled $222.2 million during Jan-Feb ’17. It must be noted that the country’s imports had totaled $1.49 billion during the entire year 2017.

The primary supplier of scrap iron and steel to the US was Canada, representing 62% of all U.S. imports. The U.S. imported $160.51 million worth scrap iron and steel from Canada. The other major sources were Mexico ($36.79 million), the Netherlands ($33.94 million), the UK ($13.67 million), and Sweden ($9.4 million). Nearly 98% of U.S scrap iron and steel imports were from these five countries.