Scrap Trade by Major Countries Exhibited Mixed Trend in Early-2018

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The scrap imports and exports by various countries across the world exhibited mixed trends during the beginning of 2018.

The trade statistics published by the Korea Iron And Steel Association indicates that the country exported nearly 99,000 tons of scrap during the initial three-month period in 2018. The exports plunged heavily by more than 40% from the corresponding three-month period in 2017. The top three export destinations were Vietnam (23,000 tons), China (22,000 tons) and Taiwan (17,000 tons). The exports to China dropped sharply by over 54% year-on-year. The further tightening of import protocols by Chinese administration is feared to result in reduced exports during rest of the year.

According to Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) data, the scrap exports by the country totaled 1.82 million in Q1 this year. The quarterly imports declined by 13% when compared with the previous year. South Korea with imports of 1.1 million tons was the single largest importer. The other key export destinations of Japanese scrap were Vietnam (375,000 tons) and China (240,000 tons). The exports to China tumbled by nearly 52% over the previous year.

ALSO READ: Global Scrap Availability to Surpass 1 Billion Tonnes in 2030

The U.S. scrap exports rose significantly by more than one-third over the previous year to total 1.5 million tons of scrap in February this year. Turkey was the largest importer with 325,000 tons, followed by Mexico (220,000 tons) and Taiwan (155,000 tons). The exports to China dropped to 8,000 tons. Meantime, the U.S. imported nearly 409,000 tons of scrap in March ’18, falling marginally by 4% from 426,000 tons imported during March last year. The major suppliers were Canada (288,000 tons), the Netherlands (48,000 tons) and Mexico (42,000 tons). The imports during Q1 2018 totaled 1.1 million tons as against 1.15 million tons in Q1 2017.

The recent statistics released by the Turkish Steel Producers Association (TCUD) suggests 41% year-on-year growth in scrap imports during Jan-Feb ’18. The imports totaled 3.5 million tons. The EU was the main supplier with exports of nearly 2 million tons. Turkey imported 658,000 tons of scrap from the U.S.