By Paul Ploumis
SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The US Commerce Department data for the month of August this year indicates sharp recovery in ferrous scrap exports by the country. The exports surged higher by nearly 50% in comparison with the month before. However, the cumulative exports during the initial eight months of the current year were still down when matched with the year before.
The country’s ferrous scrap exports rebounded sharply from the lows of 870,772 tons recorded in July to 1.295 million tons in August. The shipments out of the country surged higher by 48.8% month-on-month. The year-to-date exports have declined by more than 9% from 8.801 million tonnes in January-August last year to 7.975 million tonnes during the similar eight-month period this year.
The largest importer of US ferrous scrap during the month was Turkey. The imports by Turkey imports from the US totaled 2.033 million tonnes, accounting for more than one-fourth of the total shipments out of the US. Turkish buyers reported drop in purchases during the eight-month period in 2016. The Turkish imports declined by 17.5% when compared with those during January to August in 2015. The second largest destination of US scrap exports was Mexico. The Mexican imports totaled 966,334 tonnes, increasing significantly by 44% from the imports during the corresponding period last year. In third place was Taiwan with total imports of 892,854 tonnes during the eight-month period. The imports by Taiwan plunged 35% year-on-year. On the other hand, the US scrap exports to India jumped higher significantly by 24% to 727,118 tonnes.
Exports-July ’16
In July ’16, the US exported 870,772 tons of steel scrap. The export volumes were down marginally by 3.3% over the previous year. The largest importer of US ferrous scrap during the month was Turkey. Turkish scrap imports from the country totaled 217,154 tonnes. The second largest destination of US scrap exports was Mexico. The Mexican imports totaled 150,967 tonnes. In third place was Taiwan with total imports of 139,715 tonnes during the month.
Exports-June ’16
The US exported 1.034 million tons of scrap. When compared with the prior month, the exports were down by 21.5%. 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 buyer of US scrap during the month was Mexico. The imports by Mexico totaled 222,579 tonnes. The other key destinations of US exports were Kuwait (133,122 tonnes), Taiwan (90,643 tons), Peru (89,277 tons) and Turkey (88,028 tons).
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 May last year.
Meantime, recent data released by the US Department of Commerce and the Bureau of Census shows that the country’s ferrous scrap exports have dropped sequentially during the period from 2011 to 2015. The yearly exports have almost halved from 24.508 million mt in 2011 to as low as 12.768 million mt in 2015.
