U.S. Exports of Aluminum Scrap Slumped Over 4%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  The most recent trade statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that exports of aluminum scrap declined marginally during the first three months of the current year. The exports were valued at $554.26 million during this period, slightly lower by 4.42% when matched with $579.86 million during the corresponding three-month period in 2018.

China was the primary importer of aluminum scrap from the U.S. The value of exports to China totaled $130.37 million, accounting for almost 24% of the total U.S. shipments. Meantime, the Chinese imports from the U.S. dropped significantly by over 53% over the previous year. In second place was South Korea, with an import value of $78.4 million. The South Korean imports edged higher marginally by 6.33% year-on-year. India emerged as the third largest importer, receiving $77.35 million worth of aluminum scrap from the U.S. The other key market destinations were Mexico ($48.11 millions) and Malaysia ($44.86 million).

The above five countries together received 68.4% of the total aluminum scrap exported by the U.S. during Jan-Mar ’19.

The U.S. imported $207.13 million worth of aluminum scrap during the first three months of the current year. This compares with $240.66 million during the year-ago period, thereby translating into nearly 14% decline. The top sources of import were Canada ($134.26 million), Mexico ($57.11 million) and Guatemala ($3.42 million).