BIR releases latest report on global scrap trade and consumption

BRUSSELS (Scrap Monster): The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) has released its latest report on global scrap consumption and trade. According to the report, the EU-28 region continues to be the top scrap exporter during the first half of the current year. The region’s export totaled 8.6 million mt during the initial six-month period of the year. The exports went higher by 15.2% when matched with those during the corresponding period last year. The leading importer of EU scrap was Turkey. The imports by Turkey totaled 5.01 million mt, accounting for nearly 58% of the total EU exports. The Turkish imports of EU scrap surged higher by over 14% year-on-year. Also, imports by India jumped higher by almost 30% year-on-year to 958,000 mt during January-June ’16.

The cumulative steel scrap exports by the US during the initial half-yearly period of 2016 totaled 5.901 million tons, down considerably by 14.5% compared to the same period of last year. The monthly exports averaged at 984,000 tons during the first six months of 2016. The export volumes to major destinations including China, Taiwan, Turkey, South Korea and Thailand dropped significantly during this period.

The largest importer of US scraps during the six-month period this year was Turkey. The US steel scrap exports to Turkey totaled 1.5 million mt, accounting for nearly 25% of the total scrap exports by the US during the six-month period. The scrap exports to Turkey dropped sharply by 24.4% year-on-year. The second largest export destination of US steel scrap was Taiwan. The exports to the country totaled 599,000 mt during Jan-June ‘16. The exports registered 49.3% decline over the year. The exports to South Korea and China declined by 13.6% and 32.8% respectively. The US scrap exports to Thailand too witnessed sharp year-on-year decline of 18.4%.

On the other hand, the US scrap exports to Mexico surged higher by 47%. The other countries to report significant jump in scrap imports from the US were Pakistan (+45.5%), India (+35.7%) and Peru (+30.5%).

The cumulative exports during the half-yearly period of the year totaled 4.775 million tons in Japan. The exports surged higher by nearly 16% over the same period in 2015. The country’s scrap exports to South Korea and Vietnam increased by 10.4% and 71.1% respectively. On the other hand, Japanese scrap exports to China and Taiwan declined by 15.7% and 9.6% respectively during the initial six-month period of 2016.

Meantime, the BIR report also indicates overall drop in scrap consumption during H1 2016.

The cumulative imports of ordinary steel scrap by Japan 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 scrap imports by Vietnam 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.

With reference to the most recent data published by the Korean authorities, the country’s steel scrap 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.

On the other hand, the Jan-Jun ’16 scrap imports by Thailand rose by nearly 7% over the year to 538,000 tons.