U.S. Exports of Iron Ore and Concentrates Surged 38%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The exports of iron ores and concentrates by the U.S. surged 38% through February this year. The exports totaled $81.48 million through the first two months of 2018, as compared with the exports of $59.17 million during the corresponding two-month period in 2017. The full year exports had totaled $752.02 million in 2017, recording 36% jump from 2016.

During the first two months of 2018, the top five markets for U.S iron ores and concentrates export were Canada, Mexico, Germany, France and the UAE. Nearly 82% of all U.S exports were to Canada. The exports to the neighboring country totaled $66.9 million. The second largest importer, Mexico accounted for $13.02 million of exports. The exports to Germany, France and the UAE totaled $1.52 million, $23,740 and $23,600 respectively. The top five destinations accounted for nearly 99.99% of all iron ores and concentrates exports by the US.

On the other hand, the imports of ores and concentrates dropped sharply by nearly 28% over the previous year from $124.29 million in Jan-Feb ’17 to $89.83 million during the opening two months of 2018. The imports had totaled $628.41 million during the entire year 2017, significantly higher when compared with 2016.

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The top supplier during the two-month period was Brazil. The imports from Brazil totaled $60.16 million, accounting for nearly 67% of all imports. The imports from Brazil declined sharply by almost one-third over the previous year. Canada increased its supplies by 146% year-on-year to $16.49 million. The second largest exporter accounted for 18.36% market share. In third place was Sweden with exports of $11.22 million. South Africa ($1.91 million) and Norway ($36,360) were the other main suppliers of iron ores and concentrates to the US during Jan-Feb ’18.

The above top five markets accounted for bulk of the U.S. imports.