Korean Ferrous Scrap Imports Hit Five-Year Peak

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest trade statistics published by the Korean Customs Service suggests significant surge in ferrous scrap imports by the country during February this year. The imports surged higher by 30% over the previous year, recording the highest level since September 2014.

The South Korean scrap imports totaled 669,721 tons in Feb ’19. This is higher by 30.2% from the same month a year before. The imports were up by 10.5% from the prior month. It must be noted that the country’s imports had totaled only 605,877 tons in Jan ’19.

The largest source of import was Japan. The Korean imports from Japan totaled 476,567 tons, rising sharply from the imports of 437,861 tons during the prior month. The imports from Japan accounted for more than 71% of the total imports by the country. In second place was the U.S. with supplies of 105,337 tons. The imports from the U.S. witnessed significant jump upon comparison with 66,600 tons in Jan ’19. The third largest source of imports was Russia, who supplied 60,314 tons of ferrous scrap to South Korea. The other key suppliers were Philippines (5,711 tons) and Thailand (3,923 tons).

The combined imports during the initial two-month period of the year totaled 1.276 million tons. This compares with the imports of 1.104 million tons during the corresponding two months in 2018. The primary sources of import were Japan (914,428 tons), the U.S. (171,937 tons) and Russia (122,970 tons).