U.S. Nickel Scrap Exports Dipped 19%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The U.S. exports of nickel waste and scrap registered huge decline during the initial four-month period of the current year. The latest trade data published by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that the exports collapsed by over 19% during this period, when matched with the previous year. The exports were valued at $40.33 million as compared with $49.83 million a year before.

Through April 2019, the top trade partner was Canada. The nickel scrap exports from the U.S. to Canada totaled $27.24 million, accounting for nearly 68% of all U.S. shipments. The exports to that country witnessed huge decline by 33.4% over the previous year. The second largest destination of exports was Australia, whose imports from the U.S. totaled $2.92 million. In third place was Japan with imports of $2.57 million. The other key export destinations were the UK ($2.12 million) and Sweden ($1.89 million).

The U.S. imports of nickel scrap recorded a year-on-year decline of 6% in Jan-Apr ’19. The imports dropped from $101.93 million to $95.73 million through the first four months of 2019. The leading sources of import were the UK ($31.54 million), Canada ($13.17 million), Russia ($9.43 million), Mexico ($8.84 million) and Japan ($7.25 million). These five countries together accounted for more than 73% of all nickel waste and scrap imported by the U.S. during Jan-Apr ’19.