U.S. Nickel Scrap Exports Declined 23%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest trade statistics published by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates notable decline in exports of nickel waste and scrap by the country through May this year. The imports too were down modestly, when matched with the comparable five months in 2018.

During Jan-May ‘19, the value of nickel scrap exports by the U.S. amounted to $51.29 million. This is significantly lower by 23.14% when compared with the year-ago period. The exports had totaled $66.73 million during January to May in 2018. 

The primary market for U.S. nickel scrap exports was Canada. The country accounted for more than 67% of all U.S. exports during the five-month period of the year. The imports by Canada registered notable decline by more than 35% over the previous year to total $34.59 million. The exports to Australia witnessed sharp jump by 345% to $3.96 million. In third place was Japan with imports totaling $3.86 million. The other major importers of nickel scrap from the U.S. were the U.K. ($2.42 million) and Sweden ($2.38 million).

Meantime, the U.S. imports of nickel waste and scrap too witnessed modest decline by 4.43% year-on-year during the first five months in 2019. The imports totaled $127.56 million as compared with $133.47 million during Jan-May ’18.

The top five sources of imports of nickel scrap by the U.S. were the UK, Russia, Mexico and Japan. Nearly 73% of all nickel waste and scrap imported by the U.S. during the first five months of the year were supplied by the above five countries. The combined imports from the top five sources totaled $92.97 million out of the total $127.56 million.