Ferrous scrap exports by Russia declined 6% in July

By Anil Mathews

MOSCOW (Scrap Monster): The latest trade data published by the Russian Federal Customs Service of Russia indicates that the country’s ferrous scrap exports during July this year declined by nearly 6% when compared with the same month a year before. The cumulative exports during the initial seven-month period of the year were down marginally by 1.6% over the corresponding period in 2015.

The country’s ferrous scrap exports during the month of July alone totaled 512,868 tons. The exports witnessed marginal decline of nearly 6% year-on-year. The Russian scrap exports during July last year had totaled 545,604 tons. When matched with June this year, the scrap exports during July ‘16 were up by nearly 6.2%. Russia’s steel scrap exports during June this year had totaled 482,812 tons. According to Russian trade statistics, the exports during July hit the highest level in two months.

The largest export destination of Russian scrap during July this year was Turkey. The Russian exports to Turkey totaled 218,689 tons, accounting for nearly 43% of the total Russian exports. The exports to Turkey increased sharply by 54.2% year-on-year. The second largest export destination was South Korea. The Russian exports to South Korea jumped higher by 8.8% over the previous year to 124,679 tons. In third place was Belarus with 100,197 tons. The other primary importers of Russian ferrous scrap during the month were Spain (43,820 tons), the Netherlands (6,553 tons), Lithuania (3,436 tons), Greece (2,850 tons), Germany (2,451 tons) and Latvia (2,317 tons).

The Russian ferrous scrap exports totaled 3.250 million tons during the first seven-month period of the current year. The exports were down marginally by 1.6% when matched with the exports of 3.303 million tons during January to July in 2015. The country’s exports averaged at 464,000 tons per month. Going by the current rate, the country’s ferrous scrap exports are estimated to total around 5.570 million tons during the entire year 2016.

The largest export importer of Russian scrap during January to July this year was Turkey. The imports by Turkey totaled 1.541 million tons, accounting for nearly 48% of the total Russian exports during this period. The exports to Turkey increased sharply by 15.1% year-on-year. The imports by Turkey had accounted only for 40.5% share of Russian exports during Jan-July ’15. The second largest export destination was South Korea. The Russian exports to South Korea jumped higher by 28.9% over the previous year to 590,583 tons. In third place was Belarus with 560,817 tons. The top three importers occupied nearly 83% share of Russian exports.

The other key export destinations of Russian ferrous scrap during the initial seven-month period in 2016 were Spain (305,579 tons), Portugal (40,594 tons), the Netherlands (39,813 tons), Germany (33,437 tons), Latvia (16,716 tons), Morocco (14,400 tons) and Greece (14,320 tons).

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