Scrap Iron and Steel Exports Slumped 11%, Says U.S. Census Bureau

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The exports of scrap iron and steel by the U.S. dropped significantly during the first nine months of the current year. The exports posted 10.65% year-on-year decline during this period, falling from $4.53 billion a year before to $4.05 billion, said the latest trade statistics published by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The primary destination of exports was Turkey, whose imports from the U.S. were valued at $768.27 million. The country accounted for nearly 19% of all U.S. shipments. The Turkish imports of U.S. scrap iron and steel recorded over 11% decline, compared with the previous year. Taiwan, with imports of $471.85 million, emerged as the second largest export destination. In third place was India with imports of $372.96 million. The other key importers were Vietnam ($319.84 million) and South Korea ($259.82 million).

ALSO READ: U.S. Nickel Scrap Exports Tumbled by One-Fifth

The above top five destination countries together received $2.19 billion worth of scrap iron and steel exports out of the U.S, thus accounting for more than 54% of the total exports by the country.

The scrap iron and steel intake by the U.S. dropped substantially by almost one-fourth, when matched with the previous year. The imports were valued at $1.06 billion through September this year. The top five sources of import were Canada ($698.13 million), Mexico ($165.99 million), Sweden ($77.17 million), the Netherlands ($47.67 million) and UK ($35.71 million). The combined supply by these five countries accounted for approximately 97% of all scrap iron and steel imports by the U.S. during Jan-Sep ’19.