U.S. Exports of Precious Metal Scrap Surged 56%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest U.S. Census Bureau data points to nearly 56% surge in the country’s exports of precious metal scrap through August 2020. The exports surged higher from $3.19 billion in Jan-Aug ’19 to $4.99 billion in the opening eight-month period this year.

Canada emerged as the top trade partner, receiving $1.52 billion worth of precious metal scrap exported by the U.S. This accounted for approximately 30% of the total U.S. exports during the year. Also, Canada’s imports from the country skyrocketed by nearly 46% from the prior year. The other leading export destinations were the UK ($1.15 billion), Germany ($921.6 million), Italy ($571.84 million) and Japan ($458.18 million).

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The U.S. shipments to the above top five foreign markets totalled $4.62 billion, representing over 92% of the total exports.

Meantime, the U.S. imports of precious metal scrap too witnessed notable increase, surging higher by approximately 37% over the previous year from $1.51 billion to $2.06 billion.

The leading source of import was Germany. The imports from that country totalled around $546.9 million, higher by nearly 36% from the previous year. Germany accounted for almost 27% of all U.S. imports. The other key suppliers of precious metal scrap to the U.S. were the UK ($414.69 million), Canada ($300.70 million), Mexico ($184.67 million) and Japan ($111.07 million).

The exports and imports, by value, in February 2020 stood at $781.77 million and $269.61 million respectively, said the latest U.S. Census Bureau data.