Half-Yearly Exports of Scrap Iron and Steel Surged 40%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The exports of scrap iron and steel by the U.S. surged higher significantly by 40.46% during the initial six months of 2018. The exports had surged higher by 47% through May this year. The most recent trade statistics published by the U.S. Census Bureau suggests nearly 20% jump in imports as well during H1 2018.

During the first half of the current year, the U.S. exports of scrap iron and steel totaled $3.04 billion, as compared with the exports of $2.16 billion during the corresponding six-month period in 2017. The exports had valued at $4.92 billion during the entire year 2017. Among various export commodities, scrap iron and steel was ranked 48 through June this year.

The top export market for scrap iron and steel from the U.S. was Turkey. The exports to Turkey totaled $539.67 million, accounting for nearly 17.77% of the total U.S. exports. The second largest destination was Taiwan with $351.43 million worth of imports from the U.S. The other key export markets were Mexico ($334.33 million), India ($240.57 million) and China ($236.56 million). The exports to the above top five markets totaled $1.7 billion, representing over 56% of total exports through June this year.

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Meantime, the U.S imports of scrap iron and steel have increased by 19.6% year-on-year to total $929.71 million through the first six months of 2018. The country’s imports had totaled only $777.37 million during Jan-June ’17.

The primary source of imports of scrap iron and steel was Canada. The imports from the neighboring country totaled $581.69 million, accounting for 62.57% of all shipments to the U.S. during this period. The imports from Canada surged higher by nearly one-fifth during H1 2018. The other key foreign markets were Mexico ($122.55 million), the Netherlands ($88.78 million), the U.K. ($58.08 million) and Sweden ($45.39 million).

Nearly 96.43% of total U.S. imports were from the above five countries. The shipments from the top five markets totaled $896.48 million through June this year.