US Ferrous Scrap Exports Soared 22% During Jan-Aug ‘17

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The US ferrous scrap exports recorded significant growth during the initial eight months of 2017, according to latest statistics released by the US Census Bureau. The exports totaled 8.558 million tonnes during this period, higher by almost 22% over the previous year. It must be noted that the US had exported 7.025 million tonnes of ferrous scrap during the first eight months of 2016.

The leading destination of US ferrous scrap exports was Turkey. The country imported 2.015 million tonnes of scrap from the US, consuming almost 24% of the total exports by the US during the eight-month period. The exports to Turkey reported marginal jump by 0.5%.

Among all other destinations, China reported the biggest jump in import volumes. The Chinese imports of ferrous scrap from the US surged higher considerably by more than 185% year-on-year. The imports totaled 476,680 tonnes during Jan-Aug ’17, as compared with the imports during the corresponding eight-month period in 2016. The total purchases by Bangladesh rose 116%. The country’s ferrous scrap imports from the US just exceeded 416,000 tonnes.

The exports to the neighboring Canada jumped 68%. The shipments across the border totaled 430,078 tonnes in Jan-Aug ’17. The imports by Pakistan surged higher significantly by nearly 88% year-on-year to total 437,377 tonnes. The other countries that purchased increased quantities of ferrous scrap from the US were Mexico and Taiwan. The imports by these countries were up by 31% and 16% respectively. Mexico imported 1.197 million tonnes of scrap, whereas the imports by Taiwan totaled 926,348 tonnes.

On the other hand, US exports to South Korea tumbled nearly 53% during the opening eight months of the year to total 258,049 tonnes. India too reported 27.4% decline year-on-year. The US exports to India totaled only 473,455 tonnes in Jan-Aug ’17 as against the imports of 652,142 tonnes during January to August in 2016.

For the month of August alone, the US ferrous scrap exports totaled 1.32 million tonnes, 24.8% lower when compared with the exports during August 2016. The exports had totaled 1.76 million tonnes in August last year. The exports reported marginal gain when compared with the prior month.

Meantime, the US H1 average scrap export prices remained flat at $263.50 per long ton as on October 23^rd, upon comparison with the previous week. Accordingly, average scrap export price in Pittsburg was $269.50 per long ton. The prices in Chicago and Philadelphia were $257.50 per long ton and $263.50 per long ton respectively.