US steel scrap exports tumbled 22% in June

By Paul Ploumis (ScrapMonster Author)

August 11, 2016 01:26:11 AM

ALBANY (Scrap Monster): The most recent trade statistics released by the US International Trade Commission (US ITC) indicates that the country’s steel scrap exports dropped significantly during the month of June this year.

The US steel scrap exports during the month totaled 1.034 million tons. This is considerably lower by 21.5% when compared with the exports during the prior month. The US scrap exports had totaled 1.317 million tons, hitting the highest level in almost 18 months during May this year. The June ’16 scrap exports were down by 12.1% over the previous year. The value of exports witnessed over 18% year-on-year decline to total $3.328 billion.

The largest export destination of US scrap during June this year was Mexico. The US steel scrap exports to Mexico totaled 222,579 tons, accounting for nearly 22% of the total scrap exports by the US during the month. The scrap exports to Mexico increased sharply by 156.6% year-on-year. The second largest export destination of US steel scrap was Kuwait. The exports to the country totaled 133,122 tons during the month. The other key importers of steel scrap from the US were Taiwan (90,643 tons), Peru (89,277 tons) and Turkey (88,028 tons).

The cumulative steel scrap exports during the initial half-yearly period of 2016 totaled 5.901 million tons. The monthly exports averaged at 984,000 tons during the first six months of 2016. Also, going by the current rate, the country’s steel exports are estimated to touch 11.80 million tons during the entire year 2016.

Exports-May ’16

In May ’16, the US exported 1.317 million tons of scrap. The exports surged higher by nearly 36% over the previous month and by 6.3% over the previous year. The largest importer of US scrap during the month was Turkey. The imports of US scrap by the country increased sharply by 56.7% year-on-year to 519,000 tons, when matched with the exports of 331,000 tons during Mat last year.

Exports-April ’16

The country’s steel scrap exports totaled 969,409 tons during April this year. The exports dropped marginally by 2.6% when matched with the previous month. Year-on-year, the exports have recorded sharp decline of 16.9%. The largest export destination of US scrap during the month was Turkey. The exports to Turkey totaled 261,488 tons, accounting for nearly 27% share of US exports during the month. The other key importers of US scrap were South Korea (125,816 tons), India (121,774 tons), Taiwan (97,979 tons) and Mexico (80,632 tons).

Exports-Mar ’16

In March ’16, the US exported 995,288 tons of scrap. The exports dropped by 3.6% over the previous month and by 19.1% over the previous year. The total value of scrap exports amounted to $2.528 billion during the month, significantly down by 34% over the previous year.

In March ’16, the US exported 995,288 tons of scrap

The largest importer of US scrap during the month was Turkey. The imports of US scrap by the country dropped by 5.1% year-on-year to 247,891 tons. In second place was India with 150,381 tons, followed by Mexico (120,087 tons), Korea (107,750 tons) and Taiwan (105,007 tons).

The following table summarizes the country’s steel scrap exports during the initial six-month period of the current year.