US Ferrous scrap export volumes record 4% drop in 2016

By Paul Ploumis

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest data published by the US Census Bureau and International Trade Commission suggests modest decline in ferrous scrap shipments out of the country during the year 2016. The exports declined by 4% over the previous year to total 11.233 million tonnes last year. The country had exported 11.696 million tonnes of ferrous scrap during entire year 2015. Among top five scrap export destinations, only Mexico recorded increased purchases during the year.

Turkey-the top importer of US scrap, reduced its purchases by over one-fifth in 2016. The Turkish import of US ferrous scrap totaled 3.123 million tonnes, accounting for nearly 28% of the total exports by the US during the year. Turkey had imported 3.961 million tonnes during 2015. The imports by South Korea registered 19.5% year-on-year decline. The imports by the country totaled 829,414 tonnes. The Taiwanese imports too dropped modestly by 3.3% over the previous year to total 1.237 million tonnes in 2016. The imports of US scrap by India too reduced marginally by 0.4% to 1.011 million tonnes.

Meantime, Mexico’s scrap purchases from the US surged higher by 29.3% in 2016 to total 1.384 million tonnes. China imported 432,273 tonnes of scrap from the US, significantly higher by 14.2% over the imports during 2015. Bangladesh’s imports from the US climbed higher considerably by nearly 140% to 292,953 tonnes in 2016. The country’s imports from the US had totaled only 122,414 tonnes in 2015.

Exports-Dec ‘16

The US ferrous scrap exports totaled 1.082 million tonnes in December last year, marginally higher by 1.6% year-on-year. The largest destination of US scrap exports was Turkey. The Turkish purchases declined by nearly 36% over the year to 163,158 tonnes. China, the second largest importer of US scrap registered sharp increase in import volumes. The Chinese imports of US scrap skyrocketed by over 200% to 143,000 tonnes. In third place was Taiwan with imports of 135,000 tonnes. The Taiwanese imports increased considerably by 136% over the previous year.

Exports-Nov ‘16

The US steel scrap exports totaled 1.25 million tons during the month, marginally higher by 3.8% when compared with the previous year. The exports declined sharply by 9.3% from the previous month.

The main destination of US scrap exports during Nov ’16 was Turkey. The exports to Turkey totaled 286,000 tons, accounting for over one-fourth of the total exports. The exports to Turkey dropped by nearly 13% over the previous year. India was the second largest destination of US steel scrap exports. The exports to India rose sharply by 30% over the year to 178,000 tons. In third place was Taiwan with 115,000 tons. The US ferrous scrap exports to Taiwan surged higher by 86.4% when compared with November 2015.

Exports-Oct ‘16

The US ferrous scrap exports totaled 1.239 million tons in October 2016. The shipments out of the country increased significantly by nearly 10.5% month-on-month.

The largest importer of US ferrous scrap during the month was Turkey. The imports by Turkey from the US totaled 282,000 tons, accounting for almost 23% of the total shipments out of the US. The US ferrous scrap exports to Turkey surged higher by 9.6% over the previous year. The second largest destination of US scrap exports was Mexico. The Mexican imports totaled 148,000 tons, rising significantly by 12.1% when compared with October 2015. In third place was India with total imports of 123,000 tons during the month. The exports to India plunged lower by nearly one-third in comparison with the same month a year before.