U.S. Census Bureau Says Aluminum Scrap Exports Saw Modest Decline

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest U.S. Census Bureau data suggests modest drop in aluminum scrap exports by the country during the first two months of 2019. The exports totaled $350.36 million during the month, down by 3.42% when matched with the corresponding year-before period. The country’s exports of aluminum scrap had totaled $362.78 million in Jan-Feb ‘18.

The top trade partner of the U.S. was China. However, the exports to that country declined heavily by almost 51% when compared with the previous year, mainly due to stricter import regulations by Chinese Customs authorities. The U.S. exported $85.68 million worth of scrap to China, which translates to more than 24% of all U.S. shipments. In second place was South Korea, which imported $48.18 million worth of materials from the U.S. The other primary importers were India ($43.06 million), Mexico ($33.0 million) and Canada ($28.41 million).

The combined exports to the above top five foreign market destinations s accounted for over 68% of the total U.S. exports of aluminum waste and scrap.

Meantime, the U.S. imports of aluminum scrap too have declined by 8.25% over the previous year. The imports dropped from around $151.95 million to $139.41 million. The primary sources of import were Canada ($89.35 million), Mexico ($38.84 million), Guatemala ($2.47 million), Chile ($1.3 million) and Costa Rica ($796,064). More than 95% of all imports by the U.S were from the above five countries, Census Bureau data said.