U.S. Precious Metal Scrap Exports Surged 35%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest U.S. Census Bureau data suggests that exports of precious metal scrap surged higher significantly during the initial seven-month period in 2018. The exports through July this year were up by 34.53% to $2.54 billion, when compared with the exports of $1.89 billion during Jan-July ’17.

Germany, Canada and the U.K emerged as the top three foreign markets for precious metal scrap exports. The exports to Germany totaled $612.6 million, accounting for 24.12% of the total U.S. exports. Canada received $568.74 million worth of precious metal scrap from the U.S. In third place was the U.K with $536.48 million. The other major export destinations were Italy ($344.79 million) and Japan ($205.78 million). These top five markets received $2.27 billion out of the total exports of $2.54 billion by the U.S during Jan-July ’18.

Meantime, the U.S. imports of scrap of precious metal too increased by more than 16% through July this year. The imports rose from $939.56 million in Jan-July ’17 to $1.09 billion during the corresponding seven-month period in 2018.

The key supplier of precious metal scrap to the U.S was Germany. The imports from Germany surged higher by nearly 5% over the previous year to total $263.61 million during Jan-July ’18. The supplies from Canada totaled $233.3 million. In third place was Singapore with $88.72 million. The other major suppliers were Mexico ($77.56 million), the U.K ($65.58 million) and Japan ($52.44 million).

Meantime, the U.S. imports of scrap of precious metal too increased by more than 16% through July this year. The imports rose from $939.56 million in Jan-July ’17 to $1.09 billion during the corresponding seven-month period in 2017.