Chinese scrap imports plunged to five-month low in July 2015

By  Paul Ploumis 09 Sep 2015  Last updated at  02:45:37 GMT

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): As per the most recent data, the ferrous scrap imports by China during the month of July this year declined sharply over the previous year. Also, imports were down when compared with those during June this year.

The country’s scrap imports during July 2015 totaled 169,409 tons. The imports dropped by 31.6% year on year. The country had imported 247,675 tons of scrap during the same month last year. When compared with the previous month, the scrap imports by the country were down by 18.40%. China had imported 207,593 tons of scrap during June this year.

The largest scrap exporter to China during July this year was Japan. The scrap imports from Japan totaled 150,242 tons, accounting for nearly 89% of the total imports by China during the month. In second place was South Korea with 7,749 tons. The other major ferrous scrap exporters to China during July ’15 were Belgium (2,658 tons), the USA (1,500 tons) and Germany (1,453 tons).

The cumulative scrap imports by the country during the initial seven-month period of the year totaled 1.443 million tons. The imports during this period registered a decline of 7% year-on-year. The Chinese scrap imports had totaled 1.552 million tons during Jan-July ‘14.

During January to July this year, Japan was the largest scrap exporter to China. The scrap imports from Japan totaled 1.203million tons, accounting for 83.4% of the country’s total scrap imports. However, the scrap imports from Japan fell by 6.2% year-on-year. The second largest exporter of scrap to China was the US. The scrap imports by the country from the US totaled 72,107 tons, falling significantly by 34.5% year-on-year. In third place was South Korea with 54,233 tons. The South Korean scrap exports to China during the seven-month period surged by over 50% when matched with the previous year.