By Paul Ploumis

ALBANY (Scrap Monster): According to the Copper and Brass Fabricators Council (CBFC), the imports of brass mill products by the US during the month of February this year have increased modestly when matched with the year before that. Also, exports registered rise year-on-year during the month.

February ’17 Imports

According to data, the US imports of brass mill products during February this year totaled 35.800 million lb, significantly higher by 4.4% when compared with 34.296 million lb imports registered during February 2016.

The main exporter of brass mill products to the US during February 2017 was Germany. The total imports from Germany during the month totaled 8.588 million lb. Mexico followed Germany with total exports to US amounting to 4.346 million lb. In third place was South Korea. The brass mill products imports by the US from South Korea totaled 3.926 million lb during the month. The other key exporters were Vietnam (3.062 million lb) and Canada (2.909 million lb).

Imports by Product Type

Imports of all sheet, strip, plate and foil products totaled 12.207 million lb in February. All pipe and tube products imports totaled 12.207 million lb. Imports of all profiles, rods and bars totaled 8.473 million lb. Copper alloy wire imports totaled 2.857 million lb.

February ’17 Exports

In accordance with the data released by the CBFC, the US exports of brass mill products totaled 20.535 million lb in February this year, modestly up by nearly 2.2% when matched with the exports of 20.089 million lb during February 2016.

The key export destination for US brass mill products during February ’17 was Mexico. The exports to Mexico totaled 8.409 million lb. The other key importers of US brass mill products during the month were Canada (5.757 million lb), China (1.359 million lb), Saudi Arabia (819,977 lb) and South Korea (695,999 lb).

Exports by Product Type

Exports of all sheet, strip, plate and foil products totaled 8.517 million lb in November last year. All pipe and tube products exports totaled 2.695 million lb. Exports of all profiles, rods and bars totaled 7.102 million lb. Copper alloy wire exports totaled 1.764 million lb.

Year-to-date Imports/Exports

For the first two months of the year 2017, US imported 73.881 million lb of brass mill products. This is 9.0% higher when compared with the imports of 67.828 million lb in the same year-ago period. Exports during the initial two months of 2017 totaled 40.664 million lb, compared with 37.965 million lb in the corresponding 2016 period, recording a significant increase of nearly 7.0%.

The table below provides the details of imports of brass mill products during the initial two months of 2017.

The details of exports of brass mill products during January to February this year are as follows:-

Note: The above quantities are in million lb

 About CBFC

The Copper and Brass Fabricators Council is a non-profit membership trade association open to any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the fabrication or production in the United States of products made, in whole or in part, from copper or copper alloys. 

Generally, the member companies are engaged in the production of copper and copper alloy sheet and strip, rod and bar, plumbing tubing, OEM or air-conditioning tubing, wire, extrusions, shapes and profiles, forgings, and fittings.  These products are used chiefly in the automotive, construction, and electrical/electronic industries. 

There are currently nineteen member companies who produce over 80% of all copper and brass mill products produced in the United States.