Asian countries report significant surge in scrap import volumes

By Anil Mathews (ScrapMonster Author)

August 10, 2016 10:17:27 AM

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The trade data released for the month of June this year indicates that steel scrap imports by major countries in the Asian region recorded considerable jump.

According to waste and scrap import statistics released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF), the country imported 3,337 metric tons (MT) of ordinary steel scrap during June ’16. The largest exporter was South Korea with 3,200 MT. The other leading exporters of ordinary steel scrap during the month were Taiwan (42 MT), Cambodia (28 MT), Germany (23 MT) and Vietnam (22 MT). The price of overall imports averaged at $76.27 per MT.

The cumulative imports of ordinary steel scrap during the initial six-month period of the year totaled 20,335 metric tons. The import prices averaged at $99.75 per MT during this period. South Korea was the key exporter with imports from that country by Japan totaling 16,426 metric tons. The other primary sources of

Also, Vietnam imported 379,189 tons of scrap during June this year, rising marginally by 2.7% when compared with the previous import were Taiwan (3,282 MT), Panama (159 MT), Hong Kong (127 MT) and Thailand (120 MT).month. The country had imported 369,220 tons of scrap during May ’16. The value of scrap imports were up by 10.8% over the previous month to total US$93.66 million. The cumulative scrap imports by the country during the first half of the year totaled 1.79 million tons, rising significantly by nearly 24% over the previous year. Vietnam had imported 1.44 million tons of scrap during January to June in 2015. It is estimated that the country’s scrap imports are likely to total around 3.6 million during the entire year 2016.

Meantime, the most recent data published by the Korean authorities suggests that the steel scrap imports by the country totaled 509,000 tons during June this year. This is significantly down by almost 11% year-on-year. The country’s scrap imports had totaled around 515,000 tons during June last year. However, the cumulative imports during initial six-month period of the year were up marginally by 1.4% over the previous year to total 2.816 million tons. The monthly imports averaged at nearly 470,000 tons. The annualized import for the entire year 2016 is estimated at around 5.63 million tons.

The largest exporter of ferrous scrap to South Korea during June ’16 was Japan. The imports from Japan totaled 319,000 tons, accounting for 63% of the total imports by the country during the month. The imports from Japan dropped marginally by 0.2% from the previous year. Russia was the second largest import source during the month. South Korea’s ferrous scrap imports from Russia totaled 115,000 tons, accounting for 23% share of the country’s imports during the month. The imports from Russia climbed higher by 15.3% year-on-year. The scrap imports by the country from the US dropped sharply by nearly 80% over the year to total 13,000 tons during the month.

Thailand’s scrap imports fell sharply during June ’16. However, half-yearly imports rose significantly when matched with 2015. The monthly imports dropped sharply by nearly one-third over the month to 63,000 tons. The imports were down by nearly 5% year-on-year. The country had recorded 162,000 tons of scrap imports during May this year, the highest volume of imports during the past two years. The key scrap exporter to Thailand was the US. The imports from the US totaled 8,000 tons, dropping significantly over the year. The Jan-Jun ’16 imports by Thailand rose by nearly 7% over the year to 538,000 tons. The annualized scrap imports are expected to surpass 1 million tons during 2016.