Imports of Steel Scrap by World Countries Rose 4% in 2016

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The 2017 Steel Statistical Year Book published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) indicates that steel scrap imports by world countries rose 4% during 2016, as compared with the year before that. The imports totaled 87.511 million tons (Mt) during the year. The scrap import trade by world countries had totaled only 83.999 Mt in 2015. Turkey was the largest scrap importer in 2016 with imports of 17.716 Mt.

The EU region continued to be the largest importer of steel scrap in 2016. The region imported 28.909 Mt, marginally lower when compared with 29.058 Mt imported in 2015. This is the second straight year of decline in steel scrap imports by the region. The largest importers within the region were Italy (4.434 Mt), Germany (4.107 Mt), Belgium (4.084 Mt) and Spain (3.965 Mt). The imports by Other European countries too rose from 17.159 Mt in 2015 to 18.572 Mt in 2016.

The CIS region reported marginal decline in imports over the year. The yearly imports were down from 1.876 Mt in 2015 to 1.861 Mt in 2016. The sharp jump in imports by Russia was more than offset by declines in other countries of the region. Byelorussia and Russia were the leading importers. The imports by Byelorussia declined from 1.382 Mt to 1.235 Mt over the year. On the other hand, Russian imports surged higher from 235,000 tons in 2015 to 431,000 tons during the previous year.

The North American imports recorded notable jump. The imports by the region were up by over 17% to 7.608 Mt in 2016. The imports had totaled only 6.530 Mt in 2015. More than 50% of the imports by the region were by the US. The US steel scrap imports totaled 3.864 Mt in 2016. The other primary importers were Mexico (1.893 Mt) and Canada (1.839 Mt). Meantime, South American region witnessed sharp decline in imports. The imports dropped from 597,000 tons in 2015 to 563,000 tons in 2016. Peru, with imports of 415,000 tons, was the main importer of steel scrap.

The African region reported 15% decline in scrap steel imports during 2016, dropping from1.587 Mt to 1.344 Mt. Egypt was the only country to see year-on-year increase in import volumes. The imports by other countries declined when compared with 2015.

The Middle East region imported 684,000 tons of steel scrap in 2016. The imports have recovered marginally over the year. The region’s imports had dropped sharply in 2015 al almost half of the 2014 level.

Among Asian countries, India emerged as the leading scrap importer. The imports by the country totaled 6.380 Mt during the year. The other Asian countries to record significant import volumes were South Korea (5.845 Mt), Vietnam (3.286 Mt), Taiwan (3.155 Mt) and Pakistan (2.387 Mt).

The Oceania region imports more than doubled from 31,000 tons to 88,000 tons. Out of this, Australia imported 81,000 tons during the year.