By Carolina Curiel

ScrapMonster Author

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The latest statistics released by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department indicate that the country’s ferrous scrap exports increased sharply during the month of October this year, upon comparison with the previous month. The exports increased sharply from the same month a year ago. Also, cumulative scrap exports by the country during the initial ten-month period of the year were up modestly by 6.0% when matched with the corresponding period in 2015.

Hong Kong exported 140,685 tons of scrap steel during the month of October this year. The exports were up sharply by 36.5% when matched with the previous month. The country had exported 103,060 tons of scrap steel during September 2016. The exports have hit the highest level in five months, the country’s Statistics Department noted.

Honk Kong exported 140,685 tons of scrap steel during the month of October this year. The exports were up sharply by 36.5% when matched with the previous month.

The biggest importer of ferrous scrap from Hong Kong during September this year was Vietnam. The imports by Vietnam from Hong Kong totaled 68,085 tons, accounting for more than 48% of the total scrap exports by Hong Kong during the month. The imports from Hong Kong witnessed sharp rise by more than 75% from September ’16 levels. Vietnam had imported 103,060 tons during September this year. Indonesia was the second largest importer during the month, with 26,497 tons. The ferrous scrap exports to Indonesia from Hong Kong surged higher by nearly 65% over the previous month. In third place was China with 22,822 tons. The other key importers of ferrous scrap from Hong Kong during the month were India (13,502 tons), Taiwan (6,593 tons) and Thailand (1,794 tons).

The country exported 1.119 million tons of scrap steel during the initial ten-month period of the year. The imports were up modestly by 6.0% when compared with the net export volume of 1.055 million tons during the period from January to October in 2015. The monthly exports averaged at 111,894 tons so far this year. At the current rate, the country’s scrap steel exports are estimated to total around 1.34 million tons during the entire year 2016.

The largest importer of ferrous scrap from Hong Kong during the initial ten-month period of the year was Vietnam. The imports by Vietnam totaled 459,166 tons, accounting for nearly 41% share of the total exports by the country during the period. The imports from Hong Kong increased modestly by over 12% from the previous year. Vietnam had imported 409,688 tons during Jan-Oct in 2015.

China was the second largest export destination during the first ten months of the current year. China’s ferrous scrap imports from Hong Kong totaled 218,422 tons, accounting for nearly 20% share of Hong Kong’s total exports during the period. The exports to China dropped by nearly 5.7% year-on-year. In third place was Indonesia with 13.3% share of total Hong Kong exports. The exports to Indonesia increased significantly by 23.1% to 149,300 tons when matched with the exports of 121,313 tons during Jan-Oct ’15. The other key importers of ferrous scrap from Hong Kong a during the ten-month period were Taiwan (121,595 tons), India (106,174 tons), Thailand (25,837 tons) and Pakistan (13,093 tons).

The table below provides the summary of Hong Kong’s ferrous scrap exports during the year-to-date period.